Wanyiri S K - Traffic Congestion in Nairobi CBD

JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
OF
AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL, CONSTRUCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING
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PROJECT REPORT
TITLE
TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN NAIROBI:
A Case Study of the Central Business District
STEVE K. WANYIRI
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SUPERVISOR: MR. M.O. WINJA
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This project is submitted in partial fulfillment of the award of BSc. Civil Engineering of the Jomo Kenyatta
University of Agriculture and Technology
April 2010
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DECLARATION
I Steve K Wanyiri do declare that this report is my original work and to the best of my knowledge, it has
not been submitted for any degree award in any University or Institution.
Signed (Author) Date.
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CERTIFICATION
I have read this report and approve it for examination.
Signed (Supervisor) Date.
MR. M.O. WINJA
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Foremost, I most thankful my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for all He is to me.
I appreciate my supervisor, Mr. M. O. Winja for the support and direction that has contributed in making this
project a success.
I am ever grateful to my lecturer and friend Dr. Z. C. Abiero-Gariy, for his solid and unwavering guidance
and advice throughout the project.
I am highly indebted to Mr. Linus Tonui for their technical support in data gathering and analysis.
I thank my parents, Job and Beatrice, my siblings Becky, Frank, Julita and Mary, and my cousin Jane for the
love, emotional and financial support they have given me.
I also appreciate the prayers, support and encouragement of Benjamin K Mwanzia.
Finally, I acknowledge the support of all my friends, relations and classmates.
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ABSTRACT
Traffic congestion is an increasing problem in many urban environments and Nairobi is not an exception.
The main objective of this research was to establish the main causes of traffic congestion in Nairobi. The
study aims at giving recommendations to the problems of congestion by considering, as a case study, the
Nairobi central business district (CBD). Specifically, the study applied data from the City Council of Nairobi
to examine how various factors influence the capacity of the road network. This was achieved by evaluating
the traffic volumes and travel speeds of selected corridors within the CBD, and examination of the network
characteristics of the study area. Mathematical analysis by use of the MS Excel spreadsheet was applied in
the evaluation of the data as well as the application of ArcGIS software in network analysis. The data
analysis showed that lack of pedestrian facilities and numerous traffic incidents are solvable problems that
contribute to traffic congestion in the central business district.
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Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................................... iii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................... vii
List of Figures.................................................................................................................................................. vii
Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 PROBLEM BACKGROUND AND STUDY JUSTIFICATION ........................................................... 1
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT...................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:................................................................................................................... 3
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS ................................................................................................................... 3
1.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................................................... 4
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................ 4
2.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 4
2.2 CAUSES OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION ................................................................................................ 4
2.3 FACTORS INFLUENCING TRAFFIC CONGESTION ....................................................................... 7
2.3.1 Capacity ............................................................................................................................................ 7
2.3.2 Intersections ...................................................................................................................................... 7
2.3.3 Transportation network..................................................................................................................... 9
2.3.4 Volume of traffic .............................................................................................................................. 9
2.3.5 Pedestrian management .................................................................................................................... 9
2.3.6 Pubic transport ................................................................................................................................ 11
2.4 MEASURING TRAFFIC CONGESTION ........................................................................................... 11
2.4.1 Temporal Aspects of Congestion: .................................................................................................. 12
2.4.2 Spatial Aspects of Congestion: ....................................................................................................... 12
2.5 COSTING CONGESTION ................................................................................................................... 13
2.6 TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN NAIROBI ............................................................................................. 14
2.6.1 Street network ................................................................................................................................. 15
2.6.2 Public transport ............................................................................................................................... 15
2.6.3 Intersections .................................................................................................................................... 15
2.6.4 Conflicting modes........................................................................................................................... 16
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2.6.5 Decongestion measures .................................................................................................................. 16
Chapter 3 ......................................................................................................................................................... 17
3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................. 17
3.1 DATA COLLECTION .......................................................................................................................... 17
3.1.1 Secondary data................................................................................................................................ 17
3.1.2 Data on travel time ......................................................................................................................... 17
3.1.3 Measurement of Distances.............................................................................................................. 18
3.1.4 Data on Traffic counts .................................................................................................................... 19
3.1.5 Pedestrian Counts ........................................................................................................................... 20
3.1.6 Primary data.................................................................................................................................... 20
3.2 DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................... 20
3.2.1 Evaluation of the travel speeds ....................................................................................................... 20
3.2.2. Peak Hour Factor (PHF) ................................................................................................................ 21
3.2.3 Composition of traffic .................................................................................................................... 22
3.2.4 Traffic incidents.............................................................................................................................. 22
3.2.5 Lane widths .................................................................................................................................... 22
3.2.6 Network Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 23
3.2.7 Network coverage ........................................................................................................................... 23
3.2.8 Network structure ........................................................................................................................... 23
3.2.9 Costing Congestion......................................................................................................................... 25
Chapter 4 ......................................................................................................................................................... 26
4.0 ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .......................................................................................... 26
4.1 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS ............................................................................................................... 26
4.1.1 Travel Speeds ................................................................................................................................. 26
4.1.2 Traffic Count .................................................................................................................................. 29
4.1.3 Network analysis ............................................................................................................................ 33
4.1.5 Lane widths .................................................................................................................................... 33
4.1.6 Parking ............................................................................................................................................ 33
4.1.7 Costing Congestion......................................................................................................................... 33
4.2 DISCUSSION........................................................................................................................................ 34
4.2.1 Travel speeds .................................................................................................................................. 34
4.2.2 Traffic Volumes.............................................................................................................................. 35
4.2.3 Network characteristics .................................................................................................................. 36
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4.2.4Traffic Incidents .............................................................................................................................. 36
4.2.5 Parking and Capacity of lane widths .............................................................................................. 37
Chapter 5 ......................................................................................................................................................... 38
5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................... 38
5.1 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................... 38
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 38
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................ 40
Appendix A ..................................................................................................................................................... 42
Travel Time data and Travel Speed Results ................................................................................................ 42
Data on Lane widths .................................................................................................................................... 47
Appendix B:..................................................................................................................................................... 48
Traffic Data ................................................................................................................................................. 48
Pedestrian Counts ........................................................................................................................................ 52
Parking and Congestion Data ...................................................................................................................... 52
Appendix C: Photographs................................................................................................................................ 53
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List of Tables
Table 1: Level of service comparisons ............................................................................................................ 13
Table 2: Passanger car unit (pcu) conversion factors ...................................................................................... 21
Table 3: Recommended urban carriageway widths ......................................................................................... 23
Table 4: Classification of Networks ................................................................................................................ 24
Table 5: Computed running and journey speeds ............................................................................................. 29
Table 6: Parking Supply and Demand in the CBD .......................................................................................... 33
List of Figures
Figure 1: Map of the Nairobi CBD, Source: Google Maps ............................................................................. 25
Figure 2: Section speeds for Trip 1 ................................................................................................................. 26
Figure 7: Total inbound and outbound traffic count for Haile Selassie Avenue ............................................. 29
Figure 8: Inbound and Outbound traffic count for Uhuru Highway................................................................ 30
Figure 9: Compositions of traffic for Haile Selassie Avenue and Uhuru Highway ........................................ 30
Figure 10: Peak hour variation for Haile Selassie Avenue .............................................................................. 31
Figure 11: Peak hour variation for Uhuru Highway ........................................................................................ 31
Figure 12: Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/ City-Hall way junction ...................................................... 32
Figure 13: Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/ University way junction ..................................................... 32
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Chapter 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by
slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased queuing. The most common example is the physical use of
roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction between vehicles slows the speed
of the traffic stream, congestion is incurred. As demand approaches the capacity of a road (or the
intersections along the road), extreme traffic congestion sets in, and when vehicles are fully stopped for
periods of time, this is colloquially known as a traffic jam (Wikipedia, 2009).
Traffic demands vary significantly depending on the season of the year, the day of the week, and even the
time of the day. Moreover, the definition of congestion also varies significantly from time to time and place
to place based on user expectations.
Congestion can be measured in a number of ways level of service (LOS), speed, travel time, and delay are
the commonly used measures.
This problem robs part of the value of highway investment by causing the highways capacity to be
diminished below the capacity it is capable of conveying. Congestion, in other words, creates massive social
and investment inefficiency by actually diminishing the performance capacity of an existing infrastructure
asset.
Time is literally money. A direct linkage exists between transportation investment, travel conditions
(congestion) and economic productivity. Transportation accounts for a share of the final price of a product,
ranging from one percent to 14 percent, depending on the commodity and the distance moved (U.S
Department of Transportation, 2005). All this adds up to a staggering amount of costs imposed on travelers
by congestion.
1.1 PROBLEM BACKGROUND AND STUDY JUSTIFICATION

Transport is crucial for the development of any city. Effective transportation is imperative for ensuring
access to education, employment, and healthcare. Today, cities in developing countries often devote a
substantial proportion of their total expenditures to their transport systems. However, for reasons that are still
unclear, these cities are yet unable to cope with increasing demands for more road space. The city of Nairobi
finds itself in a similar situation. This is because the city is experiencing rapid population growth and urban
sprawl. This rapid expansion has led to severe traffic congestion and other transport-related problems in the
central business district (CBD).
In a recent traffic survey by Katahira & Engineers International, (2006), vehicle ownership in Nairobi was
estimated at 23.3% in 2004 and projected to about 31.1% in 2010. Traffic congestion was rated at an average
of 0.92 pcu/day in terms of Volume to Capacity ratio (VCR). Among the major problems cited in the City
Center included congestion on some arterials outside CBD and inside CBD and poorly functional arterial
road network connectivity in the CBD.
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The problem of traffic congestion in many cities of the developing world is blatantly apparent. Traffic
congestion is a thorn in the flesh not only to the countrys economy but also its well being. Road hazards,
fuel consumption, local air pollution, green-house gas emissions and waste of time/money could only be
some of the problems that are measurerable. In fact the environment and human health costs of road
transport are part of a growing global concern that is reaching overwhelming proportions. Urban air
pollution causes over 800,000 deaths each year with more than 70% in developing countries. An estimated
70-90% of air pollution in urban areas is as a result of road transport (UNEP, 2009). Traffic congestion is at
the core of this problem.
In most major cities in Africa more than 50% of all trips are non-motorized, mainly on foot. In Nairobi, 60%
of road users walk or cycle, 35% use public transport and only 5% use private cars (UNEP, 2009), yet
decongestion measures suggested are not usually inclusive of this fact. It is therefore appropriate in dealing
with this issue to address the major cause of congestion rather than just a section of it.
According to a recent evaluation in a local daily (Sunday Nation, 21st Aug. 2009), the man-hours lost in just
about an hour of the usual traffic jam in the larger Nairobi runs into billions of shillings. When mobility of
traffic is stalled, our resources are wasted. But while much is being done especially concerning Vision 2030,
urgently needed is sanity on our roads, which cannot wait until year 2030!
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Traffic congestion in Nairobis Central Business District is worsening at an alarming rapidity. The problems
associated with the traffic congestion are costing the country substantially in terms of its annual Gross
Domestic Product, yet the more the implementation of proposed solutions is delayed or dragged, the more
the country loses.
As a non-productive activity for most people, congestion reduces regional economic health. Wasted fuel
increases air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions (which contributes to global warming) owing to
increased idling, acceleration and braking, increased fuel use may also in theory cause a rise in fuel costs.
Besides, it contributes to stressed and frustrated motorists, encouraging road rage and reduced health of
motorists. Moreover, vehicles get to wear out as a result of idling in traffic and frequent acceleration and
braking. Also, blocked traffic may interfere with the passage of emergency vehicles travelling to urgently
needed destinations.
There have been various efforts to solving the menace, but not much seems to have been achieved. The
major problem lies in the implementation of the beautiful ideas that may have been suggested to deal with
the monster of traffic congestion. But as a third world country with limited resources, the challenge of
tackling traffic congestion becomes harder by the day.
It can be well argued that the best way to address a problem is to find its cause first. It is in this light that this
study was conducted to investigate the major causes of traffic congestion in Nairobis CBD, with the view
that if the major cause can be addressed adequately enough, and catered for, the problem could be reduced to
a level of tolerance, a level that can be endured or even better, managed, and this without the unwise
investment of resources as has been witnessed lately in our country.
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1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:

General objective
To determine the major causes of traffic congestion in Nairobis Central Business District with a view to
giving suitable recommendations for alleviating the problem
Specific objectives
i)
To determine the major causes of traffic congestion in the central business district (CBD)
ii)
To measure the level of traffic congestion in the CBD
iii)
To estimate the total economic loss as a result of traffic congestion
iv)
To recommend economically viable ways of mitigating the problem
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The problem of traffic congestion is underestimated in terms of efforts channeled towards alleviating it.
1.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The study was limited by the following factors:
i)
Length of the study: time given for the study was short, and therefore, it was not be possible to
collect all data required, especially primary data.
ii) Study resources: the monetary amount allocated for the study was not adequate; and the availability
of research personnel to assist in the study was also a challenge. Moreover, some data requested
from the City Council of Nairobi was lacking because it was last through an inferno, such as the
capacity of various corridors.
iii) Limits of the study area: the study is limited to the central business district (CBD) of Nairobi,
although the congestion involved is influenced by a much larger area of interest which was not
studied.
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Chapter 2
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
According to the Nairobi Metropolitan Traffic Decongestion Program (2009), the core City of Nairobi is
experiencing the highest level of immigration resulting into very high pressure on the carrying capacity of
physical and social infrastructure. The most prominent manifestation of this scenario is the persistence traffic
congestion being experienced in the Central Business District (CBD). Previously this was a peak hour issue
but currently traffic snarl up is noticeable anytime of the day and in all the directions. Ultimately Nairobi
Metropolitan residents are making location decisions not based on any economic but traffic situation. For the
last 20 years traffic management measures have been discussed but with little implementation. As a result
the region and the country as a whole are losing approximately Ksh. 30 Billion daily on lost fuels, stress,
time and Environmental degradation (Nairobi Metropolitan Region Decongestion program, 2009).
A report by a group of expert researchers in traffic operations from Organizations for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) and European Conference of Transport Ministers (ECMT) countries (2004) noted
that Road traffic congestion poses a challenge for all large and growing urban areas. They indicate that
Congestion is one of the major pre-occupation of urban decision-makers. A quick scan of policy statements
from across OECD/ECMT cities highlights the importance of congestion to the public, elected officials and
road and transport administrations in many urban areas. Yet, there is little consensus across the
OECD/ECMT member countries on the types of policies that are best suited to tackling congestion in cities.
There is perhaps even less consensus on what precisely congestion is, whether or not it is a solvable
problem and, in some locations and cases, whether it is problem at all.
In Nairobi, however, congestion is relatively easy to recognizeroads filled with cars, trucks, and buses,
sidewalks filled with pedestrians. In the transportation realm, congestion usually relates to an excess of
vehicles on a portion of roadway at a particular time resulting in speeds that are slowersometimes much
slowerthan normal flow speeds. Congestion often means stopped or stop-and-go traffic.
This literature will review the causes of congestion, factors that influence traffic congestion, the measuring
of congestion, the costing of congestion and present conditions facing Nairobi central business district
(CBD).
2.2 CAUSES OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION

Congestion is typically categorized as either recurrent or non-recurrent: Recurrent congestion is generally
the consequence of factors that act regularly or periodically on the transportation system, such as daily
commuting or weekend trips, fluctuations in demand, the manner in which the roadway is operated, as well
as the physical layout of the roadway (OECD, 2004).
Non-recurrent congestion is the effect of unexpected, unplanned or large events (e.g. road works, special
events, accidents, breakdowns, and other random events, such as inclement weather) that affect parts of the
transportation system more or less randomly and, as such, cannot be easily predicted. The share of nonrecurrent congestion varies from road network to road network and is linked to the presence and
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effectiveness of incident response strategies, roadwork scheduling and prevailing atmospheric conditions
(OECD, 2004).
The FHWA (2009) identifies seven major root causes of traffic congestion grouped into three broad
categories which often interact with each other. They compose both recurrent and non-recurrent congestion:
i)
Traffic-Influencing Events
Traffic Incidents Are events that disrupt the normal flow of traffic, usually by physical impedance
in the travel lanes. Events such as vehicular crashes, breakdowns, and debris in travel lanes are the
most common form of incidents. In addition to blocking travel lanes physically, events that occur on
the shoulder or roadside can also influence traffic flow by distracting drivers, leading to changes in
driver behavior and ultimately degrading the quality of traffic flow. Even incidents off of the
roadway (a fire in a building next to a highway) can be considered traffic incidents if they affect
travel in the travel lanes.
Work Zones Are construction activities on the roadway that result in physical changes to the
highway environment. These changes may include a reduction in the number or width of travel
lanes, lane "shifts," lane diversions, reduction, or elimination of shoulders, and even temporary
roadway closures. Delays caused by work zones have been cited by travelers as one of the most
frustrating conditions they encounter on trips. In Nairobi, many work zones exist due to road-works
presently on-going.
Weather Environmental conditions can lead to changes in driver behavior that affect traffic flow.
Due to reduced visibility, drivers will usually lower their speeds and increase their headways when
precipitation, bright sunlight on the horizon, fog, or smoke are present. Wet roadway surface
conditions will also lead to the same effect even after precipitation has ended. Inclement weather
poor visibility and slippery road surfaces cause drivers to slow down.
ii) Traffic Demand

Fluctuations in Normal Traffic Day-to-day variability in demand leads to some days with higher
traffic volumes than others. Varying demand volumes superimposed on a system with fixed capacity
also results in variable or unreliable travel times.
Special Events Are a special case of demand fluctuations where traffic flow in the vicinity of the
event will be radically different from "typical" patterns. Special events occasionally cause "surges"
in traffic demand that overwhelm the system. A good example in Kenya is the presidential convoy!
iii) Physical Highway Features
Traffic Control Devices Intermittent disruption of traffic flow by control devices such as poorly
timed signals also contribute to congestion and travel time variability.
Physical Bottlenecks ("Capacity") Transportation engineers have long studied and addressed the
physical capacity of roadwaysthe maximum amount of traffic capable of being handled by a given
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highway section. Capacity is determined by a number of factors: the number and width of lanes and
shoulders; merge areas at interchanges; and roadway alignment (grades and curves). There is also a
wild card in the mix of what determines capacitydriver behavior. Research has shown that drivers
familiar with routinely congested roadways space themselves closer together than drivers on less
congested roadways. This leads to an increase in the amount of traffic that can be handled. Traffic
signals, freeway ramp meters, and tollbooths are all examples of this type of bottleneck.
Congestion results from oneor the interaction of severalof these causes on the highway system. The
interaction can be complex and varies greatly from day-to-day and highway-to-highway. The problem is that
most of these causes of congestion occur with maddening irregularitynothing is ever the same from one
day to the next! One day commuters might face low traffic volumes, no traffic incidents, and good weather;
the next day traffic might be heavier than normal, it might be raining, and a severe crash may occur that
blocks traffic lanes. This makes it harder in identifying a single cause for traffic congestion.
As vehicles are forced to get closer and closer together, abrupt speed changes can cause shock waves to form
in the traffic stream, rippling backward and causing even more vehicles to slow down. Disorderly vehicle
maneuvers caused by events have a similar effect on traffic flow as restricted physical capacity (Wikipedia,
2009).
There are a number of specific circumstances which cause or aggravate congestion; most of them reduce the
capacity of a road at a given point or over a certain length, or increase the number of vehicles required for a
given volume of people or goods. About half of U.S. traffic congestion is recurring, and is attributed to sheer
weight of traffic; most of the rest is attributed to traffic incidents, road works and weather events (Wikipedia,
2009). Speed and flow can also affect network capacity though the relationship is complex.
As if the congestion picture was not complicated enough, FHWA (2009) indicate that some events can cause
others to occur. For example:
The presence of severe congestion can reduce demand by shifting traffic to other highways or cause
travelers to leave later. High congestion levels can also lead to an increase in traffic incidents due to
closer vehicle spacing and overheating of vehicles during summer months.
Bad weather can lead to crashes due to poor visibility and slippery road surfaces.
The traffic turbulence and distraction to drivers caused by an initial crash can lead to other crashes.
They can also lead to overheating, running out of gas and other mechanical failures resulting from
being stuck behind another incident.
Therefore, it can be inferred that the sources of congestion can be tightly interconnected, and as a result
significant payoffs can be expected by treating the sources. That is, by treating one source, the impact of that
source on congestion can be reduced plus having a partial impact on others.
According to a study by the U.S Department of Transportation (2009), bottleneck and traffic incident delay
occur differently: bottlenecks cause delay at specific points while traffic incidents may occur anywhere
along a highway segment. But both increase with base congestion level. This indicates that if physical
capacity is increased, congestion for both sources would be decreased. In other words, facilities with greater
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base capacity are less vulnerable to disruptions: a traffic incident that blocks a single lane has a greater
impact on a highway with two travel lanes than a highway with three travel lanes. This reinforces the notion
that adding physical capacity is a viable option for improving congestion, especially when made in
conjunction with other strategies.
However, inherent risks of building too much roadway capacity include increased urban sprawl, higher air
pollution levels, heavy reliance on the auto-mobile and negative impacts on the communities that border
major transportation corridors.
2.3 FACTORS INFLUENCING TRAFFIC CONGESTION

2.3.1 Capacity
The capacity of a highway may be described as its ability to accommodate traffic. It has been defined as the
flow which produces a minimum acceptable journey speed and also as the maximum traffic volume for
comfortable free-flow conditions. The Highway Capacity Manual defines capacity as the maximum hourly
rate at which persons or vehicles can reasonably be expected to traverse a point or uniform section of a lane
or roadway during a given time period under prevailing roadway, traffic and control conditions.
Salter (1989) points out that highway capacity is limited by:
1. The physical feature of the highway, which do not change unless the geometric design of the
highway changes.
2. The traffic conditions, which are determined by the composition of the traffic.
3. The ambient conditions which include visibility, road surface conditions, temperature and wind
The demand for road space, especially in existing central town areas, will always be greater than the supply
because even if the necessary financial resources were available there would be conflicting demands for the
available land. The fact that available demand for road space is greater than the supply results in traffic
congestion (Salter, 1989).
The following road conditions influence the capacity of a road, and therefore if not properly designed and
constructed, will reduce this capacity: narrow traffic lanes, inadequate shoulders, roadside obstructions,
imperfect horizontal and vertical alignment, high frequency of intersections, and inadequate spaced change
lanes.
2.3.2 Intersections
One of the most fruitful applications of traffic management lies in the improvement of highway intersection
(OFlaherty, 1974). A review of roundabouts viz--viz signalized intersection is done hereunder with respect
to congestion study:
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Roundabouts
The capacity of a conventional roundabout is directly affected by the capacity of each weaving section
incorporated within the intersection. If any of the weaving sections is overloaded, then locking of the
roundabout may occur and it can be said that the capacity of the roundabout is exceeded.
Within a particular weaving section, true non-stop weaving will only occur when the headways between the
vehicles are of sufficient lengths and frequencies that safe merging and diverging movements can take place.
Discontinuous flow, due to stop-go movements of the weaving vehicles, occurs when these headways are not
available, or when the weaving section length is so short that the paths of the weaving vehicles cross at large
intersecting angles.
The main factors controlling the capacity of a conventional weaving section are the geometric layout,
including entrances and exits, and the percentages and composition of the weaving traffic.
Signalized intersections
Several studies have shown that signalized cross intersections are more favourable over roundabouts. For
signalized intersections, what is meaningful is not the capacity of the intersection but the capacity of an
approach or a lane or a lane group of an intersection (Chakroborty and Das, 2003).
One of the disadvantages of traffic circles is that they cannot be controlled by signals as effectively as
ordinary intersections because of the complexity of the vehicle paths. By using traffic signals to control
vehicles entering the traffic circle, the intersections capacity is much less than if the streets crossed directly.
A standard signal controlled intersection allows opposing directions of traffic to flow simultaneously so that
each approach could be served for nearly half the cycle time (Daganzo et al, 2009).
In a signal-controlled cross intersection (as opposed to a traffic circle), only the approach upstream of the
intersection is blocked, and traffic headed in the crossing direction is not impeded. The traffic approaching
from the direction of the queue spillback will always be able to discharge into any of the possible
downstream approaches, whereas a traffic circle (round about) can jam completely even if all drivers follow
traffic laws.
Many other ways exist for optimizing intersections such as the use of right turns and one-way streets:
Right turns
Although a certain intersection may work most efficiently during off-peak periods, serious congestion can
often be caused during rush periods by right-turning traffic. This can be particularly serious when opposing
right-turning vehicles lock and introduce stoppages of all movements through the intersection. Even though
locking may not occur, a few right-turning vehicles can cause a disproportionate loss of capacity.
In many instances, it is better to ban right-turning traffic entirely during all or part of the day, rather than
attempt to provide directly for it (OFlaherty, 1974).
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One way streets
One way street systems are those in which motor-vehicle movement on any carriageway within the system is
limited to one direction; they are generally considered to be one of the simplest tools for relieving traffic
congestion without expensive reconstruction or excessive policing. Their most effective usage is in the
congested central areas of cities where the possibilities of utilizing more extensive aids to traffic movement
are often very limited.
2.3.3 Transportation network
The purpose of an urban street network is to provide accessibility for people in a city. To maximize
accessibility for a given distribution of the traveling population, the street network should serve as many
trips as possible.
Urban traffic is a chaotic system in which small disturbances can result in very different traffic conditions on
individual streets. Although traffic conditions can vary greatly from street to street, the collective
performance of all the streets in a neighborhood such as a city center is more consistent (Daganzo et al,
2009).
The description of transportation network can be undertaken at different levels of detail and requires
specification of its structure, its properties or attributes and the relationship between those properties and the
traffic flows. The analysis of a network is carried out to achieve several objectives which include:
minimization of traffic congestion (which is the main focus), minimization of travel distance or time,
maximization of accessibility and maximization of network densities. A mature transportation network is
key to dealing with the problem of traffic congestion.
2.3.4 Volume of traffic
Usually, the volume of traffic on a given road section fluctuates widely with time. The rate of flow will
depend on the speed, traffic density and the headway. The distribution of headways will depend on the
traffic volume and also on the capacity of the highway. Salter (1989) says that if the drivers cannot maintain
their desired speed by overtaking slower moving vehicles then free-flow conditions no longer exist and the
highway is beginning to show signs of congestion. Highway congestion may increase until finally all
vehicles are travelling at the same speed and following each other at their minimum headway.
Headway distribution at any particular time in a given road is dependent on: traffic composition, driver
perception and reaction times, brake application time and braking distance, and suitable factor of safety.
At traffic volumes near capacity, there is an increase in the percentage of vehicles spaced at 1 to 2 seconds
(Woods, 1960).
2.3.5 Pedestrian management
Most pedestrian management measures are aimed at segregating the pedestrian from the vehicular traffic.
When complete segregation is not possible, controls are aimed restricting pedestrian movement on the
carriageway to particular locations, and, if possible, during particular times. Measures in use are pedestrian
channelization, signals, and crossings (OFlaherty, 1974).
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i)
Pedestrian channelization
By pedestrian channelization is meant the use of footpaths in conjunction with guardrails or barriers so that
pedestrians are kept off the carriageway at certain locations. With the exception of the regulations affecting
the special roads, there is no specific law which says that pedestrians must use the footpath and not the
carriageway. Thus in congested locations, or where the pathway is cracked and uneven, or when the
pedestrian simply wishes to cross the road, he is at liberty to step on the carriageway at any time and at any
place.
ii) Traffic signals
Traffic signals are used in a variety of ways to control pedestrian movement across the carriageway. By far
the most widely used procedure is simply to allow the pedestrians to cross with the lights when the
opposing vehicular traffic is normally brought to a standstill at a junction. Although this is quite efficient in
the great majority of cases, problems may arise through conflicts between pedestrian flow and the turning
vehicles. When this occurs a separate pedestrian phase may have to be included in the signal cycle. When
pedestrian volumes are very high, vehicular traffic is moderate, and the streets are so narrow that it is not
possible to have separate traffic lanes for turning and straight-ahead traffic, consideration should be given to
the use of an all-red scramble period during which the pedestrians can take the shortest way across the
intersection rather than the traditional regular route.
There can be however, considerable disadvantages to providing separate pedestrian phases at important
intersections. The most critical of these is concerned with the signal times required to accommodate both the
pedestrians and the moving vehicles. On the one hand, the pedestrian phase must be sufficiently long to
ensure that it is completely safe for the pedestrian to cross; on the other hand, the consequent reduction of
time available for the other traffic movements often necessitates a substantial lengthening of the signal cycle
so that the vehicular traffic can be accommodated. The net result is that the signal cycle may be so long that
pedestrians do not wait for the period allotted to them and cross during traffic phases. If the cycle length is
reduced to satisfy the pedestrian requirements, then the free movement of vehicles may be impaired.
iii) Pedestrian crossings
Two other crossings of special interest to the highway engineers are the completely segregated crossings and
the at-grade zebra crossing. With segregated crossings there is no possibility of conflict between the
pedestrian and the vehicle due to the use of a subway or bridge. Unfortunately, this ideal type of crossing
also happens to be the most expensive. A zebra crossing is an uncontrolled portion of the carriageway that is
reserved for the use of pedestrians crossing the road. Unlike the mandatory traffic signals, the usefulness of
the zebra crossing is dependent on the extent to which the motorist is willing to yield the right-of-way to a
pedestrian stepping on the crossing.
Establishing pedestrian controls
There are no firm rules for the establishment of pedestrian management measures. In urban areas it is
customary to have footpaths on both sides of the street and management measures are aimed at keeping the
pedestrian off the carriageway except at designated crossings. In this respect guardrails should be used at
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locations such as exits from schools, recreation grounds, footpaths or passages, along busy shopping streets,
and adjacent to zebra crossing, signals and segregated crossings.
However, there are inherent trade-offs between different forms of accessibility. This occurs because roadway
design and land use patterns optimal for one mode are generally less suited for other modes. As a result, land
use patterns that maximize automobile access (low density development with activities located along
arterials and highway intersections) tend to have poor transit and non-motorized access, while transitoriented development (clustered development with limited parking and good pedestrian access) may increase
traffic and parking congestion. Wide roads and higher traffic speeds tend to create barriers to walking, so
vehicle and pedestrian street design objectives often conflict. (Todd Litman, 2008).
2.3.6 Pubic transport
While traffic management and urban highway construction have their place in minimizing congestion it is
now generally accepted that, without the dispersal of town centre activities, the only solution at the present
time is a greater emphasis on public transport.
If this transfer from individual to public transport is accepted as part of a solution to the problems of traffic
in towns, then it will be necessary to find some means of traffic restraint. At the present time congestion
itself acts as a restraint, causing trips which would take place at congested periods to be made at other times,
or by alternative non-congested modes, or the trips may not be made at all. Congestion is however an
inefficient mode of restraint in that the priority of service is first come, first served, regardless of the value of
the trip to either the trip-maker or the community. It is inefficient in the use of resources and is detrimental
to the environment adjacent to the facility (Salter, 1989).
There are generally three ways in which restraint could be applied. Firstly the entry of vehicles to certain
areas at certain times could be prohibited by administrative means. Secondly, restraint could be applied by
use of parking regulations, especially the restriction of long-term parking, which is characteristic of car
commuting. Thirdly is road pricing whereby users of congested roads would be charged according to the
distance travelled or the time spent on them, at varying rates governed by the degree of congestion (Salter,
1989).
2.4 MEASURING TRAFFIC CONGESTION

Knowing that traffic on a particular road is congested, but not how congested it is, does not help much in
deciding whether you would take that road, if you are a driver, or what measures to take if you are the
planner.
Currently, there is no standard method of measuring congestion on roads and at intersections. Examples of
parameters used to indicate congestion include travel delay, travel time index, travel rate, travel rate index,
and speed reduction index. Several metrics are required because the public and transportation engineers
generally do not agree on a single, widely accepted definition of congestion based on one and only one
measurement. Moreover, a single measurement is generally not sufficient to express all crucial and
incidental aspects of congestion. (W. Pattara-atikom, et al, 2009)
Karl F. Petty et al (2003), in their paper, agree with these findings. They site several approaches for defining
and measuring congestion delay. Recurrent delay is measured using probe vehicles to record travel times
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during incident-free periods. Non-recurrent congestion is usually assumed to be equal to the recurrent
congestion. Other congestion-related performance measures include travel rate, percent facility segments
with demand higher than capacity, or threshold speeds. In general, however, there is a lack of consistent
definition and measurement of the congestion and its components using real-world data.
Roadway congestion delay consists of recurrent delay plus the additional (non-recurrent) delay caused by
accidents, breakdowns, and other random events, such as inclement weather and debris. Recurrent delay
arises from fluctuations in demand, the manner in which the freeway is operated, as well as the physical
layout of the roadway. Non-recurrent delay depends on the nature of the incident: an accident is likely to
cause more delay than a vehicle stopped on the shoulder of the highway (Karl F. Petty, et al, 2003).
Therefore, since delay is a random quantity, it is also acceptable that a single sample measurement of the
delayas is commonly done by measuring the delay experienced by a single probe vehicle rundoes not
provide a meaningful estimate of this delay.
One of the principles that the U. S. Department of Transportation has established for monitoring congestion
as part of its annual performance plan is that meaningful congestion performance measures must be based on
the measurement of travel time. Travel times are easily understood by practitioners and the public, and are
applicable to both the user and facility perspectives of performance (FHWA, 2009).
2.4.1 Temporal Aspects of Congestion:
Measuring congestion by times of the day and day of week has a long history in transportation. A relatively
new twist on this is the definition of a weekday "peak period"multiple hours rather than the traditional
peak hour. In many metropolitan areas, particularly the larger ones, congestion now lasts three or more hours
each weekday morning and evening. In other words, over time, congestion has spread into more hours of the
day as commuters leave earlier or later to avoid the traditional rush hour (FHWA, 2009). Definition of peak
periods is critical in performing comparisons. For example, consider a three-hour peak period. In smaller
cities, congestion may usually only last for one hourbetter conditions in the remaining two hours will
"dilute" the metrics. One way around this is not to establish a fixed time period in which to measure
congestion, but rather determine how long congestion exists (e.g., percent of time where operating
conditions are below a threshold.)
2.4.2 Spatial Aspects of Congestion:
Congestion spreads not only in time but in space as well. Queues from physical bottlenecks and major
traffic-influencing events (like traffic incidents) can extend for many miles. Congestion measures need to be
sensitive to this by tracking congestion over facilities or corridors, rather than just short highway segments
(FHWA, 2009).
Motor vehicle level of service is a measurement of congestion as a share of the designed road capacity. This
measure of congestion assigns a grade according to how full a road is as compared to its design capacity.
Under this system, a road that fills to its capacity begins to fail. (Regional Transportation Plan, 2009)
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Table 1: Level of service comparisons
Level of
Percent of road
Freeway
Street
service
capacity used
speeds
speeds
50 59%
more than 60 mph
more than 35 mph
60 69%
57 60 mph
28 35 mph
70 79%
54 57 mph
22 28 mph
80 89%
46 54 mph
17 22 mph
90 99%
30 46 mph
13 17 mph
100%
less than 30 mph
less than 13 mph
Source: Highway Capacity Manual (2000)

This measure is based on an A through F grading scale. Under this scale, traffic conditions are best at LOS
A. Moving down the scale, traffic conditions incrementally deteriorate to the worst condition LOS F.
When speeds are used in measuring congestion, they factor both the temporal and special aspects.
2.5 COSTING CONGESTION

The cost to the trip-maker has been referred to as the private cost of a journey while the cost that the tripmaker imposes upon other trip-makers because of an increase in congestion is referred to as the congestion
cost. The addition to the total costs caused by one extra trip-maker is the marginal cost. It consists of the
private costs of the additional trip together with the congestion costs caused by the additional trip. In
addition to these costs are the environmental costs that the trip imposes upon the area adjacent to the
highway, and the road maintenance costs. Private costs include fuel, maintenance, depreciation, and those
associated with the value of time (Salter, 1989).
According to the Centre for International Economics (2006), these costs can be classified as follows:
Direct costs
travel time the additional time absorbed in delays caused by congestion;
vehicle operating costs additional running costs (fixed and variable) such as depreciation, fuel,
repairs and maintenance.
Indirect costs
Accident costs congestion generally slows down the traffic on roads which reduces fatalities
which are normally a major cost, but congestion is also associated with more lower-level accidents.
The frustration of start and stop traffic leads to bump and grind driving and damage to property.
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Pollution costs greenhouse gas emissions, other pollutants such as nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide,
particulate matter, noise and others.
Reduced amenity long queues of traffic can impact upon people and districts in many ways.
Some people may find that it is harder to walk through an area, or it is less pleasing to do so.
It can be agreed that the economy of this country hinges heavily on small businesses, in one way or the
other. For small businesses in industries like agriculture, manufacturing and retail, roads and highways are
critical arteries of commerce. However, traffic on those roads and highways is taking a bite out of profit.
There is evidence that business views traffic congestion as causing a serious problem and believe that it
causes a significant cost imposition. A survey from the United Kingdom found that traffic congestion was
perceived as the most important factor likely to affect costs and service in the next three years (Fernie et al,
2000). Managers of trucking companies operating in California in the United States expressed a similar
sentiment with 80 per cent of managers indicating that traffic congestion was a somewhat serious or
critically serious problem (Centre for International Economics, 2006).
Congestion may actually produce potential benefits for business. For example, businesses along a popular
shopping strip might benefit from an increase in passing trade due to congestion. Identifying whether
particular businesses, or even whole industries, benefit from congestion is an important consideration when
measuring the net costs of congestion to businesses.
Therefore the resulting traffic slowdowns can have a wide range of negative impacts on people and on the
business economy, including impacts on air quality (due to additional vehicle emissions), quality of life (due
to personal time delays), and business activity (due to the additional costs and reduced service areas for
workforce, supplier and customer markets). There is no single rule of thumb for the economic cost of
worsening congestion or the economic benefit of congestion reduction, for that can also differ depending on
the areas specific economic profile, as well as its unique pattern of congestion.
While it is clear that increasing traffic congestion does impose costs upon travelers and affect broader
business operations, it has been difficult to develop and apply empirical measures of the extent of those
economic costs.
2.6 TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN NAIROBI

Traffic congestion is a growing problem in Nairobi, Kenya, resulting from rapidly increasing population and
the crowding of motorized traffic onto a limited street network.
Traffic conditions in Nairobi are characterized by congested and unsafe roadways with unreliable
performance. For a city of roughly 4 million inhabitants, Nairobi has few streets to serve traffic demand
relative to cities of similar size in countries with more motorized traffic (Gonzales et al, 2009). The
estimated average speed in the CBD in 2004 was 34.7km/h, while that projected for 2010 was 25.7km/h
(Katahira & Engineers International, 2006)
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2.6.1 Street network
Nairobis streets are hierarchical. Major arterials are paved and serve the purpose of connecting
neighborhoods while local streets are often inadequately maintained and offer poor connectivity. In turn,
traffic is concentrated onto the main streets and the side streets cannot feasibly serve through traffic. Traffic
in Nairobi is concentrated on the larger roads connecting the various neighborhoods in the city. Due to land
use patterns that favor suburban housing, there is strong peaked flow drawing people into the city center
each morning and out to the surrounding neighborhoods each evening.
According to Gonzales, (2009), the small number of streets in Nairobi results in the following conditions:
Concentration of Vehicles on Limited Infrastructure Since there are few streets, and most arterials
are radial, vehicular trips between different neighborhoods must share limited paved street space,
concentrating traffic onto the sparse network of major roads. This is particularly problematic in and
around the CBD.
Lack of Redundancy The connections between the major arterials are few and far-between, so there
are usually no more than one or two reasonable routes for any origin-destination pair. This means
that traffic cannot be redistributed to use street infrastructure more efficiently. Due to the lack of
ring roads many peripheral trips must pass through the CBD which compounds traffic congestion in
the center.
2.6.2 Public transport

The wealthiest residents of Nairobi tend to travel by private vehicles or taxi, and they are motivated in large
part by concerns about the safety and security of traveling by matatu or walking. On the other end of the
socio-economic spectrum is the vast population who cannot afford to travel by any means other than
walking. The largest slums lie within a few miles of the city center, so residents travel on foot. Where matatu
service becomes critically important is in connecting the city center to outlying townships and communities.
Where distances are too far to walk, matatus provide the only affordable means of transport for many people.
Of the nearly 4.8 million trips made each day in Nairobi in 2004, only 16% were made in private vehicles;
36% used public transport and 48% were made on foot. The vast majority (about 80%) of public transport
trips in Nairobi are carried by matatus. On the major corridors, matatus make up anywhere from 15% to 50%
of the vehicles on the road making them a significant component of the vehicular traffic on Nairobis road
network (Gonzales et al, 2009).
2.6.3 Intersections
Within the city center, at least 18 intersections are reportedly equipped with traffic signals (Katahira &
Engineers International, 2006), although phase timing data was only available for 11 signals (Gonzales et al,
2009). The intersections where major arterials from the surrounding neighborhoods enter the CBD are
typically controlled with large traffic circles such as those along the Uhuru Highway, Ring Road, and the
Globe Roundabout. All other intersections are managed by nothing more than posted signs.
Most of the intersections of major roads in Nairobi are controlled with traffic circles. For low traffic
demands, traffic circles have the advantage of not requiring electronic signals to serve flows from multiple
approaches. A problem with traffic circles is that they are susceptible to jamming in all directions from
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queue spillbacks when the network becomes congested. This undesirable effect occurs because the traffic
circle serves all directions simultaneously on the same circular section of road. Traffic circles tend to spread
congestion faster than if intersections were signal controlled. This problem is especially debilitating at the
few traffic circles through which all traffic entering and exiting the CBD must flow (Daganzo et al, 2009)
Turning maneuvers that interrupt regular traffic flows are particularly problematic in Nairobi because there
are many un-signalized intersections, where left turning vehicles can cause substantial traffic delays.
When queues of traffic entering the city in the morning back up to traffic circles upstream, vehicles exiting
the city center are blocked. In the evening, the jamming of a traffic circle further reduces the rate at which
trips can depart the city center. Consequently, vehicles accumulate more quickly and contribute to
widespread gridlock in the city center. Therefore, it is important that critical intersections are designed to
prevent this kind of locking, and that road use policies do not cause queues of traffic to spill back into traffic
circles (Daganzo et al, 2009).
2.6.4 Conflicting modes
The urban transport system in Nairobi is characterized by a poorly connected street network crowded with
competing modes of transport (Gonzales et al, 2009). As the mode share of motorized transport increases,
there is a need to rationalize the way the network is shared by private and public vehicles(Gonzales et al,
2009).
Pedestrians are also considered to contribute greatly to traffic congestion through interactions that cause
inefficiencies for vehicular traffic operations. These interactions also represent a severe safety hazard for
people walking in the streets.
2.6.5 Decongestion measures
The proposed Nairobi Metropolitan Region Decongestion program (2009) measures will include among
others the following interventions;
1. one way (uni-direction) traffic movement along Moi Avenue, Koinange Street, Tom Mboya Street,
Muindi Mbingu Street, Harambee Avenue, River road, Kirinyaga Road, City Hall Way, Parliament
Road:
2. dedicated bus routes in the central business district (CBD) including: Bus lanes within the CBD, bus
Routes Serving the CBD and Exit/Entry routes
3. removal of all on street parking along the following Streets: Moi Avenue, Tom Mboya Street,
Muindi Mbingu Street, Koinange Street, Harambee Avenue, River Road, Kirinyaga Road, Haile
Selassie Avenue
4. car park silos for following proposed identified parking spaces: Sunken Car park, Law courts car
park, Hakati, Central Bus station
5. park and ride facilities are along Thika, Mombasa, Waiyaki and Ngong/Langata Road.
6. designated drop and pickup points
7. restriction of heavy transit traffic
8. expanding the CBD
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Chapter 3
3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research methodology is split into two phases. The first phase is the collection of data and the other the
analysis and application of the data.
3.1 DATA COLLECTION

Two types of data were used in the study namely: secondary and primary data, whose descriptions are as
follows:
3.1.1 Secondary data
The project is based majorly on data provided by the City Council of Nairobi. The data is supplemented with
information in the report entitled The Study on Master Plan for Urban Transport in the Nairobi
Metropolitan Area in the Republic of Kenya (Katahira & Engineers International, 2006). It includes
Recent traffic volume counts of Haile Selassie Avenue and Uhuru Highway,
Pedestrian counts for junctions of Uhuru Highway with City Hall way and University way,
Travel time data,
Parking data, and
Road congestion data
The data provided was raw, as had been collected directly from the field in hand written (hard copy) form.
Therefore, this required feeding the data into a computer (softcopy form) before any analysis using Excel
spreadsheet application was made. Supplementary data from other studies was used for comparisons and to
check on consistencies and disparities.
A map of the study area (in digital form) provided by Geomatics Engineering and Geospatial Information
Systems (GEGIS) department of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) was
used to estimate network properties and to show the lane configurations in the study area within the central
business district (CBD). The geometry of the network and information regarding the width and length of
each street was determined using the map. This was done by use of Geographical Information System (GIS)
software called ArcGIS 9.2 which provided information necessary for network analysis. The map used for
the study was map number 1000/2/97. Data on the width of the corridors is provided in Appendix A. The
study area is shown on Map shown in Figure 1:
3.1.2 Data on travel time
Data on travel time was collected for five different trips using a single probe vehicle: trip 1, trip 2, trip 3, trip
4 and trip 5.
Trip 1
The probe vehicle was driven from Retail Market through Haile Selassie Avenue, Uhuru Highway,
Kenyatta Avenue, Moi Avenue, and back to Retail Market. The trip was carried out on 1st
September, 2009, from 14:48 hours to 15:14 hours.
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Trip 2
Trip 2 was from Uhuru Highway/Haile Selassie roundabout, past Haile Selassie Avenue, Moi
Avenue, and Kenyatta Avenue up to State-House road. It was carried out on 28th August, 2009
between 10:20 hours to 10:46 hours.
Trip 3
Trip 3 was the return journey for trip 2, from State-House road back to Uhuru Highway/Haile
Selassie roundabout, and was carried out the same day, at 10:48 hours to 11:12 hours.
Trip 4
The probe vehicle traversed from Uhuru Highway/Kenyatta Avenue roundabout, past Kenyatta
Avenue, Moi Avenue, and through Haile Selassie Avenue up to Retail Market. It was carried out
between 15:38 to 15:55 hours on 1st September, 2009.
Trip 5
Trip 5 was the return journey for trip 4, from Retail Market through the same way back to Uhuru
Highway/Kenyatta Avenue. It was carried out the same day, at 15:57 hours to 16:18 hours.
The data on travel times was collected using a probe vehicle as it moved through the aforementioned
corridors as the travel times were recorded. The points of data recording were as follows:
On Haile Selassie Avenue: Retail Market, Toilet No.8, Haile Selassie/Moi Avenue roundabout, L.T.
Tumbo, Parliament road and Haile Selassie/Uhuru Highway roundabout.
On Kenyatta Avenue: State-House road, Uhuru Highway/Kenyatta Avenue roundabout, Koinange
street, Muindi Mbingu street, Wabera street, Kimathi street, and Kenyatta Avenue/Moi Avenue
junction.
On Moi Avenue: Kenyatta Avenue/Moi Avenue junction, Mama Ngina street, City Hall way,
Harambee Avenue, and Moi Avenue/Haile Selassie Avenue roundabout.
The observers in the vehicle noted the exact times as the vehicle passed across these points on the corridors.
Data on travel time was used with measured distances to obtain the space mean speeds for the various road
sections. The data is attached in Appendix A
3.1.3 Measurement of Distances
Distances of road sections (between any two points or stations) were obtained using the ArcGIS 9.2 software
application. The distances were measured along the centre line, at points of intersections on a corridors
stations and rounded off to the nearest metre. For example, the distance along Kenyatta Avenue, between
Kimathi Street and Wabera Street was measured as 150m.
The distances of all road sections in the study are shown in Appendix A.
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3.1.4 Data on Traffic counts
Traffic volume study was conducted to determine the number and classifications of roadway vehicles within
the CBD. These data was used to identify critical flow time periods, determine the influence of large
vehicles and pedestrians on vehicular traffic flow, and show traffic volume trends.
Manual counts of 15-minute intervals were used to obtain the traffic volume data for Haile Selassie Avenue
and Uhuru Highway road sections. The corridors were chosen majorly due to availability of data. The
manual counts were conducted simply by means of recording data onto tally sheets. The data was recorded
with a tick mark on a pre-prepared field form. A watch was used to measure the count intervals. Traffic flow
was recorded at 15 minute intervals because it is the longest period that traffic flow can be considered to
remain constant.
The categorized vehicle counts were carried out at census points which were determined by the City Council
as Railway Club and the Railway Bridge for Haile Selassie Avenue and Uhuru Highway sections
respectively.
The data was recorded separately for different legs and for period. The legs included those outbound for
traffic headed away from the central business district, and those inbound for traffic headed towards the
CBD.
The data studied for traffic volume and pedestrian counts was limited to only the two corridors which were
used as samples since the study area was large.
Vehicle categorization
The method of vehicle categorization as used by the City Counsel of Nairobi is:
1. Cars/Vans
Small cars- capable of carrying up to five persons including the driver
Large cars- 4WD vehicles such as Land Rovers, Toyota Land Cruisers, Mitsubishi Pajeros, etc,
carrying up to nine persons including the driver
2. Light goods vehicles (LGV)
Light trucks- with two single tyre axles. - Includes single or double cab pickup type vehicles
with a carrying capacity of up to 792 kg.
3. Matatus usually with two single axles, capable of carrying up to 20 people
4. Heavy goods vehicles (HGV)
All goods vehicles with more than two axles (including the front steer axle)
5. Buses &Coaches
Small bus- PSV carrying up to 25 passengers
Large bus- PSV carrying more than 25 passengers
6. Non - motorized traffic (NMT)
This category consists of pedestrians, cyclists, and man, donkey and ox-drawn carts, etc.
Data on traffic counts is represented in Appendix B.
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3.1.5 Pedestrian Counts
Pedestrian count data are used frequently in planning applications. Pedestrian counts in this study were used
to evaluate the influence of pedestrians to traffic flows.
Pedestrian counts were conducted the same way as the traffic volume counts for Uhuru Highway /City Hall
way junction and Uhuru Highway/University way junction.
Data on the pedestrian count is summarized in Appendix B.
3.1.6 Primary data
This is data collected first hand from the study area considered. This included field observations, of which
some were captured by use of a camera. This data showed traffic incidents such as poor driving,
inappropriate parking, conflicts between pedestrians and motorists, conflicts at un-signalized intersections
and off-peak traffic congestion.
The data was used to prove the reality of traffic incidents which reduce the capacity of the roadway and
thereby contributing to non-recurrent traffic congestion.
The photographs are shown in Appendix C.
3.2 DATA ANALYSIS

To determine the causes and level of congestion, the following were done:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
evaluation of the travel speeds

evaluation of the peak hour factor
assessment the composition of traffic
examination of the network characteristics and properties of the study area
assessment the capacity of the CBD corridors (lane widths)
3.2.1 Evaluation of the travel speeds

Space mean speeds were calculated by dividing the section distances (3.1.3) by the corresponding time
(3.1.2). The distances were in metres and the times were in seconds, hence the speeds obtained would be in
metres per seconds (m/s) but they were converted to kilometers per hour (km/h) by multiplying by 3.6. For
example, for the section between Kimathi Street and Wabera Street in trip 1:
Distance: 150m and the time taken: 1min, 53 sec = 113 sec
Therefore, section speed = 150/113 = 1.33m/s
In km/h, this will be: 1.33x3.6 = 4.78km/h
The computations were done by use of the MS Excel spreadsheet application, and hence the formula was
copied for other section to obtain section speeds for the rest of the trip sections.
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Graphs were obtained to show the variation of the section speeds by use of the same spreadsheet application.
The variation of the section speeds was used to indicate the traffic flow conditions, whether stable or
unstable. This was also used to show driver freedom on the corridors.
For each single trip, the journey speed and the running speeds were obtained for the for the probe vehicle.
The mean of the section speeds was obtained (using the spreadsheet) as the running speed for a given trip.
This measure of the average speed was more appropriate for the description of the stream conditions as it
gives a measure of the traffic stream over space (Chakroborty and Das, 2003). Using Table 1 the level of
service (LOS) was also determined based on the speeds.
The journey speed was calculated as the cumulative total time divided by the cumulative total distance. The
measure of journey speeds included stops that were as a result of congestion (non-recurrent on the roadway
and recurrent at intersections).
3.2.2. Peak Hour Factor (PHF)
Capacity and other traffic analyses focus on the peak hour of traffic volume, because it represents the most
critical period for operations and has the highest capacity requirements (HCM, 1994). Peak rates of flow are
related to hourly volumes through the use of the peak-hour factor (PHF). This factor is defined as the ratio of
total hourly volume to the peak rate of flow within the hour.
The traffic count data provided was as obtained in the field in units of vehicles/hour (veh/h). The traffic
volume however, should be in terms of passenger car units per hour (pcu/h).The heavy-vehicle adjustment
factors applied in this study were those used by the City Council of Nairobi, for a level terrain in an urban
area as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Passenger car unit (pcu) conversion factors
Traffic category
Factor
Light goods vehicle
1.25
Matatus
1.75
Heavy goods vehicle
2.75
Buses
2.5
Source: City Council of Nairobi

The PHF was computed as:
(1)
Where
v15= highest 15-min vehicle count in the peak hour.
V = volume of traffic for the full peak hour (veh/h),
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The peak hour factor (PHF) is a very important parameter as it is descriptive of trip generation patterns as
applies to a street section. Peak-hour factors in urban areas generally range between 0.80 and 0.98. Lower
values signify greater variability of flow within the subject hour, and higher values signify little flow
variation. Peak-hour factors over 0.95 are often indicative of high traffic volumes, sometimes with capacity
constraints on flow during the peak hour.
Using of equation 1, the PHF was computed by the MS Excel spreadsheet. Graphs were drawn to show the
variation of PHF during the day. Analysis of PHF was used in this study to indicate the volumes of traffic
and the concentration of traffic flows on the roadway.
3.2.3 Composition of traffic
Traffic composition has a vital effect on capacity and other design considerations. The greatest difference
between different types of vehicles is reflected in the overtaking times required by the heavier vehicles.
Roads with heavy vehicles (trucks, buses, etc) have less capacity than those without; hence it was important
to determine the composition of various categories of traffic in order to determine its influence on the traffic
congestion within the CBD.
From the classified traffic counts, the composition of different categories of traffic was computed by use of
the MS Excel spreadsheet. The compositions were represented in a pie chart to give a clear comprehension
of the information.
3.2.4 Traffic incidents
It has been found that individual incidents (such as accidents or even a single car braking heavily in a
previously smooth flow) may cause ripple effects which then spread out and create a sustained traffic jam
when, otherwise, normal flow might have continued for some time longer. In a high density of traffic, small
disturbances such as a driver hitting the brake too hard or getting too close to another car can quickly
become amplified into a full-blown, self-sustaining traffic jam (Wikipedia, 2009). This study sought to find
out the influence of traffic incidents on congestion within the CBD.
Although there lacks any documentation of traffic incidences in Nairobi, number of photographs were taken
to show events that disrupt the normal flow of traffic.
3.2.5 Lane widths
The width of lanes is among physical conditions which limit the capacity of a highway. The saturation flow
of a lane or a lane group depends on a number of factors such as the number of lanes in the lane group and
width of the lanes or alternatively the width of the lane group, the gradient of the lane, percentage of turning
traffic, vehicle mix, the number of parking maneuvers and the no. of bus stops (Chakroborty and Das, 2003).
From the map provided (section 3.1.1), the widths of the various road corridors were obtained by use of the
ArcGIS 9.2 software. More data from the City Council was provided showing the minor access lanes within
the central business district. Also, data on the number of lanes was found from the report entitled The Study
on Master Plan for Urban Transport in the Nairobi Metropolitan Area in the Republic of Kenya (Katahira &
Engineers International, 2006).
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The number of traffic lanes to be used in a specific situation is dependent on the volume and type of traffic
that has to be handled. The adequacies of the lanes in the study area were checked against Table 3 on the
recommended carriageway widths.
Table 3: Recommended urban carriageway widths
Road type
Description of carriageway
Carriageway width, m
Primary distributor
Dual 4-lane
14.60
Overall width for 4-lane carriageway with 14.60

central refugees
District distributor
Local distributor
Single 2-lane (normal)
7.30
Dual 2-lane (normal)
7.30
Single 2-lane, in industrial districts
7.30
Single 2-lane, in principle business districts
6.75
Source: OFlaherty, 1974

3.2.6 Network Analysis
The purpose of an urban street network is to provide accessibility for people in a city. To maximize
accessibility for a given distribution of the traveling population, the street network should serve as many
trips as possible. The network of the study area was analyzed to asses its maturity and adequacy.
Physical characteristics of a road network in an area can be categorized into qualitative and quantitative
characteristics. Qualitative characteristics are shown on maps. The map provided in Figure 1 shows the
configuration pattern, system of links and nodes, number and characteristics of the traffic corridors.
Quantitatively, the road network is described in terms of density and connectivity as follows:
3.2.7 Network coverage
Coverage measures the extent to which the area or region is served by the transportation network. Thus, the
most common and useful index is the network density, which is a measure of accessibility.
3.2.8 Network structure

This is a concept of the extent to which the network is flexible and serviceable in terms of connectivity and
availability of alternative links between nodes in the system. The most commonly used indices for
representing network as a graph are the alpha and beta or gamma indices.
The unique usefulness of the Gamma and Alpha indices in the network analysis is the relationship between
the numerical values and network configuration in terms of the maturity or immaturity of the Network. A
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classification of the network configuration from maturity to immaturity is given by spinal (immature), grid
(transitional) to delta (maturity) using values shown in Table 4.
i)
The Beta or Gamma index
This index measures connectivity of the network in terms of the degree to which all pairs of nodes are
interconnected from a minimal to a maximum level. It is defined as the ratio of actual links to the maximum
expected links in the network as follows:
(2)
Where
G = the gamma/beta index
= the actual number of links
v = number of nodes in the network
ii) The Alpha index
This index measures circuitry of the network, that is, the degree to which the pairs of the modes have
alternative links between them. It is defined as the ratio of actual number of circuits to the maximum number
of circuits as follows:
(3)
Where e and v are as defined above, and A is the alpha index
In order to classify a given network by type of the above three configurations, limiting values for gamma and
alpha indices have been established in Table 4 as follows:
Table 4: Classification of Networks
Gamma
/3 < G 1/2
Spinal
Grid
< G 2/3
V>4
Delta
/3 < G 1
V>3
Where
V > 4 at least
Alpha
Spinal
A=0
Where
V > e+1 at least
Grid
0 < A 0.5
V>3
Delta
0.5 < A 1
V>3
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3.2.9 Costing Congestion

The economic cost of traffic congestion was calculated as shown in section 4.1.7 the computations
considered only the direct costs (section 2.5) of fuel and average income of motorists. The estimated
economic cost was determined to show not only what is approximately lost as a result of congestion of
traffic, but also the important fact that the financial resources channeled towards alleviation of traffic
congestion cannot compare to what is forfeited through neglect.
Figure 1: Map of the Nairobi CBD, Source: Google Maps
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Chapter 4
4.0 ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
Analysis was done using the MS Excel software. Most of the calculations are therefore not shown in this
section, but the formulae were applied as explained in section 3.2 of the Research Methodology (Chapter 3).
However, the calculations in Network analysis and estimation of the cost of congestion are explained.
The following results were obtained from the analysis of Data:
4.1.1 Travel Speeds
Figures 2 through 6 show the results of the computed travel speeds for the five trips. Table 5 shows the
computed running and journey speeds. Appendix A shows the complete data and results for all the five trips
in tabular form.
Trip 1
70.00
Speed (km/h)
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
Retail market
Toilet no.8
Harambee ave
City hall way
Mama Ngina street
Kimathi street
Moi ave/Haile Selassie ave
Stations
Kenyatta ave/Moi ave
Wabera street
Muindi Mbingu street
Koinange street
Uhuru Highway/Kenyatta
Parliament road
L.T. Tumbo
Haile Selassie/Moi ave R.A
Toilet no.8
Retail market
0.00
section speed
Haile Selassie/Uhuru
10.00
Figure 2: Section speeds for Trip 1
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Trip 2
Speed (km/h)
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
Section speed
Stations
Speed (km/h)
50.00
45.00
40.00
35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
Trip 3
Section speed
Stations

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Speed (km/h)
Trip 4
35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
speed
Stations
Trip 5
Speed (km/h)
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
Speed
Stations
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Table 5: Computed running and journey speeds
Trip 1
Trip 2
Return Trip 2
Trip 3
Return Trip 3
Running speed
15.85
17.75
15.68
12.27
11.09
Journey speed
10.12
6.45
6.97
7.55
6.38
4.1.2 Traffic Count

From 11 hour the traffic counts done on the two selected corridors - Haile Selassie and Uhuru highway the
following figures were developed: Figures 7 and 8 represent the variation of traffic flow; the pie charts in
figure 9 were used to capture the composition of traffic while Figures 10 and 11 show the variation of peak
hour factor during the day.
Pedestrian counts for Uhuru Highway/City-Hall way junction and Uhuru Highway/University way
roundabout are shown in Figures 12 and 13.
The graphs and charts were developed from the traffic data represented in Appendix B, which shows the rest
of the data and results.
Total inbound and outbound traffic count

for Haile Selassie Avenue
4500
4000
pcu/hour
3500
Total
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
17:00 - 18:00
16:00 - 17:00
15:00 - 16:00
14:00 - 15:00
13:00 - 14:00
12:00 - 13:00
11:00 - 12:00
10:00 - 11:00
9:00 - 10:00
8:00 - 9:00
7:00 - 8:00
Time
Figure 7: Total inbound and outbound traffic count for Haile Selassie Avenue
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Inbound and Outbound traffic count for

Uhuru Highway
6000
pcu/day
5000
4000
3000
17:00 - 18:00
16:00 - 17:00
15:00 - 16:00
14:00 - 15:00
13:00 - 14:00
12:00 - 13:00
11:00 - 12:00
10:00 - 11:00
9:00 - 10:00
8:00 - 9:00
7:00 - 8:00
2000
Outbound
1000
Inbound
0
Time
Figure 8: Inbound and Outbound traffic count for Uhuru Highway
Composition of Traffic
Uhuru Highway
Haile Selassie Avenue

1% 2%
6%
7%
48%
42%
2% 5%
Cars/Vans
Cars/Vans
matatu
matatu
31%
Buses
LGV
56%
Buses
LGV
HGV
HGV
Figure 9: Compositions of traffic for Haile Selassie Avenue and Uhuru Highway
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17:00 - 18:00
14:00 - 15:00
13:00 - 14:00
12:00 - 13:00
11:00 - 12:00
10:00 - 11:00
9:00 - 10:00
8:00 - 9:00
7:00 - 8:00
17:00 - 18:00
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
16:00 - 17:00
PHF
16:00 - 17:00
Figure 10: Peak hour variation for Haile Selassie Avenue

15:00 - 16:00
Time
15:00 - 16:00
14:00 - 15:00
13:00 - 14:00
12:00 - 13:00
11:00 - 12:00
10:00 - 11:00
9:00 - 10:00
8:00 - 9:00
7:00 - 8:00
phf
phf
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Peak Hour Factor
PHF
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
Time
Figure 11: Peak hour variation for Uhuru Highway
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Pedestrians
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
17:00 - 18:00
16:00 - 17:00
15:00 - 16:00
14:00 - 15:00
13:00 - 14:00
12:00 - 13:00
11:00 - 12:00
10:00 - 11:00
9:00 - 10:00
8:00 - 9:00
houirly variation of
number of pedestrian
7:00 - 8:00
hourly counts
Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/

City-Hall way junction
Time
Figure 12: Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/ City-Hall way junction
Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/

University way junction
1400
hourly counts
1200
1000
800
600
400
houirly variation of
number of pedestrian
200
17:00 - 18:00
16:00 - 17:00
15:00 - 16:00
14:00 - 15:00
13:00 - 14:00
12:00 - 13:00
11:00 - 12:00
10:00 - 11:00
9:00 - 10:00
8:00 - 9:00
7:00 - 8:00
Time
Figure 13: Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/ University way junction

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4.1.3 Network analysis
The number of links, e was counted as 147.
The number of nodes or vertices; v was counted as 92.
The equations 2 and 3 were applied as shown:
The values of gamma/beta (G) and alpha (A) indices were computed as 0.54 and 0.31 respectively. From
Table 4, the Nairobis CBD was judged to have a Grid (transitional) network class.
4.1.5 Lane widths
The carriageway widths for most of the major corridors such as Uhuru Highway, Haile Selassie Avenue,
Moi Avenue, Kenyatta Avenue and University way were more than 30m, some being 50m with a service
road. The data obtained shows that most of the access lanes range between 3.6m - 6.5m, with two extreme
cases of 8.5m as the widest and 2.5m as the least.
4.1.6 Parking
Table 6: Parking Supply and Demand in the CBD
Capacity
Demand - 2005
Total
On-Street
Off-Street
Building
14,864
3941
3834
7089
= D/C
140%
95%
50%
12700
5520
3460
3540
Demand - 2010
Possible usage
13000
= D/C
100%
95%
80%
13250
3940
3640
5670
Source: Katahira & Engineers International, 2006

4.1.7 Costing Congestion
According to Transparency International (2009), the average income earned by the average person in an
urban area such as Nairobi is about Kshs. 26, 000 per month. If the person works 28 days a month, and 8
hours a day, then approximately, they earn Kshs. 120 per hour.
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On average, 50% of the vehicles on a road section are cars, and about 40% are matatus (approximating from
the composition of traffic data in section 4.1.2). The average length of a matatu or car is about 4m. Allowing
for a gap of 1m, this gives about 5m of distance headway. If a traffic jam covers a kilometer of a road
section, then it bears about 200 vehicles. If the matatu carries 14 people, then in total, there are
100x14=1400passangers and if a car carries 1 person, then there are 0.4x200x1=80 people. Thus, a kilometer
of traffic jam carries about 1480 people. Therefore, an hour wasted in a kilometer of traffic jam will cost
about 120x1480=177,600/=.
An idle vehicle consumes about a litre per hour. If a litre costs Kshs.100 (for calculation purposes) then 200
vehicles in a kilometer of traffic jam in an hour will cost 200x100=20,000/=.
Therefore in total, an hour of traffic
20000+177600=197,600/=, say Kshs. 200,000.
jam covering a
kilometer
of
road
section
costs
This calculation covers only income costs and fuel costs. The study area in the central business district
(CBD) has about 20km of road, and these traffic jams may extend for more than an hour. Hence the exact
direct cost as a result of congestion may run into millions of shillings under different conditions.
4.2 DISCUSSION
4.2.1 Travel speeds
It was observed from Figure 2 that the speeds were highest on Haile Selassie Avenues section between L.T.
Tumbo and Parliament Road (63km/h), and on Moi Avenues section between Harambee Avenue and Moi
Avenue/Haile Selassie roundabout (40km/h). From Figures 3 and 4 the speeds on the same section between
L.T. Tumbo and Parliament Road on Haile Selassie Avenue were again very high (54km/h and 46km/h).
These consistently high speeds on the road section regardless of the direction are attributed to the presence
of a pedestrian footbridge on this section which effectively separates pedestrians from motorists.
Moreover, the trend in Figures 3 and 4 also show that when the speeds in the outbound traffic flow are high,
those in the inbound flow are low and vice verse (with the exception of the road section from LT. Tumbo to
Parliament). This is exhibited on the sections between State-House road, Kenyatta Avenue/Uhuru Highway
roundabout, Koinange Street and Muindi Mbingu Street. This is consistent with Figures 5 and 6, especially
between Koinange Street and Muindi Mbingu Street; and between Toilet No.8 and Moi Avenue/Haile
Selassie roundabout. These slight disparities between inbound and outbound traffic could be attributed to
peak flow conditions for Trips 4 and 5 (Figures 5 and 6) when most traffic is headed the same direction.
However, there are generally low speeds even for off-peak periods as shown in Figures 2, 4 and 5. This
maybe a consequence inadequate capacity of the roadway, or of geometric delay which takes place
throughout the whole of the day, (Salter, 1989) as a result of the size and shape of the junction. Traffic
circles are generally more ineffective than normal cross intersections (Section 2.3.2).
The condition of any traffic stream can be defined by two stream variables, namely density and speed. Speed
and density are the most basic of the three relations of speed, density and flow because drivers drive vehicles
based on their immediate surroundings. Therefore, using speeds from the probe vehicles five trips indicating
the average network speed of traffic, it was possible to know if traffic is uncongested, or where flow
conditions are unstable and forced.
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It was deduced that there were unstable flow conditions on trips 2, 3 4 and 5 because of the zigzag nature of
the graphs, and sometimes the flow was forced (very low speeds of below 5km/h) because of the high
congestion levels. Such an irregular kind of traffic flow may be a consequence of both fixed and operational
delays because of many intersections and the interacting effects of traffic on the highway or street, and is an
indication of limited freedom for the driver.
From all the five trips, the average running speed was found to be 14.53km/h (computed from Table 5). The
running speed is the average speed maintained by a vehicle over a given route while the vehicle is in motion.
It is used for the purpose of determining road capacity and level of service (LOS) of a given road. From the
results in the Figures 2 through 6, the low speeds depicted are also indicative of forced flow conditions, and
minimum driver freedom. Thus, it can be conjured, using Table 1, that the LOS in Nairobis CBD is LOS F
(which can generally be said of most other corridors). This is because the running speed is much less than 21
km/h (13 miles/hour). This finding is also supported by the discussion in section 4.2.2
Journey speed is the total distance travelled divided by the total time taken to cover the distance. The total
time includes both the running time and the time when the vehicle was not moving (at intersection and traffic
jams). It is used to measure traffic congestion as a general adequacy or inadequacy of a road. From the
values shown in Table 5, the congestion level is very high. The average journey speed is 7.49km/h while the
recommended speed in urban areas in Kenya is usually 50km/h. However, the greatest problem in the traffic
flow is not so much as the slow speed as in the congested or stop-and-go traffic flow.
4.2.2 Traffic Volumes
From Figure 7, it is notable that the evening traffic volume is higher compared to the morning traffic
volumes since the graph shoots up increasingly towards the evening peak period. This information suggests
that there is greater traffic congestion in the evening when queues from vehicles trying to leave the city
center spill back into the central business district (CBD). This is consistent with the data from Katahira &
Engineers International (2006), where congested conditions in the city center are more extensive during the
evening peak than in the morning. Traffic volumes are maximized during the evening because there are
many internally generated trips which will tend to jam the road network thus increasing the congestion.
Figure 8 shows that there is only a slight disparity between the inbound and the outbound traffic flows
during the peak hours (morning and evening). In the morning, inbound traffic is slightly higher than
outbound traffic, while in the evening, outbound traffic is higher than inbound traffic. At midday, the traffic
volumes are almost similar. This information suggests that better traffic management which vary with the
traffic conditions will help in reducing traffic congestion.
Figures 10 and 11 on the variation of peak hour factor (PHF) show that the values of PHF are consistently
high throughout the day. The average peak hour factor (PHF) for both traffic counts considered in this study
(appendix B) was found to be 0.90. This is indicative of the persistently high traffic flows even during offpeak hours and is consistent with Figures 7 and 8 which show consistently high traffic volumes throughout
the day. Therefore, it can be deduced that the capacity of the road network in Nairobi is stretched to capacity,
or beyond capacity. However, this information does not point out what causes the reduced capacity, whether
it is inadequate infrastructure or internal frictions within the traffic stream.
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Pedestrians
Figures 12 and 13 show the number of pedestrians is congruent to the variation of the vehicular traffic
volume, that is, high in the morning, over lunch hour and evening. Therefore, there are great interactions
between motorists and pedestrians throughout the day.
From section 4.2.1, the section between L.T. Tumbo and Parliament road has relatively very high speeds
than the rest of the road sections because of the provision of a footbridge which clearly eliminates the
conflict between motorists and pedestrians. Hence, from this study, it can be conjured that the conflict
between pedestrians and motorists due to lack of adequate pedestrian infrastructure greatly contributes to
traffic congestion.
The relatively high rate of pedestrian conflicts with motorists is in part due to the lack of alternative
infrastructure for people to walk. The absence of sidewalks (those present are narrow and inadequate) forces
pedestrians to walk along the shoulders and traffic lanes of busy roads as shown on the photographs
(appendix C). The crowded state of infrastructure is further exacerbated by the encroachment of markets and
commercial activities onto transport right of way. This puts very diverse modes (from pedestrians to
motorists) on an even narrower road space.
Composition of Traffic
From the pie chart representation in Figures 9, it is inferable that Cars/Vans and Matatus form the largest
composition of traffic within the central business district (CBD), and therefore, contribute most to the traffic
congestion. The heavy goods vehicles, light goods traffic and buses are not a big hindrance to the traffic flow
because of their low volume (about 10% to 13%). Therefore, in dealing with traffic congestion in the CBD,
the cars and matatus should be the priority rather than heavy vehicles or buses.
4.2.3 Network characteristics
From table 4, Nairobis CBD was judged to have a Grid (transitional) network class. That is, while the
network is not mature enough, with adequate links and nodes, neither is it immature. However, Gonzales et
al, (2009) points out that the compact city center is composed of a grid-like network of streets which is
important in dispersing travel patterns within the large CBD area. Therefore, with adequate management of
the traffic flow, traffic congestion can be minimized, though not eliminated unless the network configuration
is improved.
Gonzales et al, (2009) explains the importance of improvement of the street network: Nairobis street
network lacks redundancy which is one of the causes of the citys inconsistent congestion. The network does
not provide sufficient route choice and often there are no roads available to divert traffic around incidents or
locations of congestion must pass through the CBD which compounds traffic congestion in the center.
4.2.4Traffic Incidents
According to a survey by the U.S. Department of Transport (2005), traffic incidents contributed to the
highest cause of non-recurrent traffic congestion, at 25%, which was attributed majorly to vehicle crashes,
and breakdowns. In Nairobi, poor driving skills (drivers who lack confidence or ability) and driver overreaction on overcrowded roads, and failure to clear roads quickly after an accident or breakdown cause a
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wave effect of delay. Traffic congestion also varies with weather conditions. In the study, Multimodal
Transport modeling for Nairobi, Gonzales et al, (2009), argues that rainy weather reduces the free-flow
speed of vehicles by approximately 10%, lane discharge capacity by 40%, as well as adding a couple of
seconds delay to start-up loss time for vehicles at intersections, thus reducing the capacity of Nairobis
intersections greatly.
Although there lacks any recording or documentation of such events, traffic incidents are as rampant in the
city as shown in the photographs (Appendix C).
4.2.5 Parking and Capacity of lane widths
With respect to parking space, the data provided (Table 6) shows that utilization of the parking space has not
been maximized. Photographs of the area (appendix C) show that there are poor parking practices within the
CBD, with flush type of parking being used by large vans. Hence, it is inferable that poor parking practices
may contribute to reduced capacity of the roadway, hence traffic congestion. Moreover, parking facilities
contribute to increased influx of motorists to the central business district (CBD), thereby increasing
congestion.
The capacity of signalized intersections as such is not meaningful. What is meaningful is the capacity of an
approach or a lane or a lane group of an intersection Thus, lane widths were determined to judge whether the
capacity or road-space in the CBD meet the provisions in the Highway Capacity Manual as regards urban
roads. From the observations, it is clear that the capacities of traffic lanes are sufficient for urban roads in
comparison to Table 1. However, this does not mean that the capacity provided meets the required demand,
but it is a pointer that the severe traffic congestion experienced in the CBD is not a consequence of
inadequate capacity per se, but also poor traffic management.
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Chapter 5
5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions were drawn from the study:
1. One of the most important factors restricting the capacity of Nairobis central business district
(CBD), according to the findings in this study, is the presence of pedestrians who use the streets for
transport and commerce. Pedestrian barriers alone are not enough in separation of pedestrians from
interrupting motorists, and despite their presence, there are still conflicts of pedestrians and
motorists. Only one footbridge exists within the CBD.
2. The second important finding in this study is the contribution of traffic incidents (non-recurrent
congestion) to the recurrent traffic congestion. While there is the problem of the inadequacy of the
base capacity, the problem of congestion is exacerbated through poor driving practices, poor parking
practices, and inefficient traffic management within the central business district (CBD).
3. Thirdly, travel on Nairobis street network is of transitional maturity (it is not yet mature). There are
few streets, few unreliable intersections, along with the limited available routes. Therefore,
congestion can arise unexpectedly and last for hours because there are missing links to divert traffic
around incidents or locations of congestion.
4. There is very high traffic congestion in the Nairobi central business district (CBD) as a result of the
interaction of both recurrent and non-recurrent congestion. Judging by the low traffic speeds, the
high traffic volumes and little freedom for drivers, the level of service in Nairobis CBD is LOS F.
5. The approximated average cost on income and fuel use as a result of traffic congestion was found to
be Kshs. 200, 000 per hour per km of road section
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Providing pedestrian facilities will increase the capacity of intersections and roads. For both safety
and efficiency, transport in Nairobi would be improved by expanding sidewalks to provide space for
pedestrians apart from motorized traffic. This recommendation is relatively inexpensive to
implement compared to the cost of congestion, and therefore economical for the countrys third
world status. Also, improvements to other modes, such as transit, cycling and walking, should be
considered in order to significantly reduce vehicle traffic congestion.
2. An increasingly higher number of vehicles on the road require a change in user behavior because
any error or obstruction directly affects other motorists whose reaction affects others. What matters
more is not the total number of vehicles, but the degree of response to the problem of congestion. A
big change in volume of traffic needs a big change in the planning, construction, administration and
usage of road space. What does matter is an orderly queue, with each turn in order of arrival, which
will ensure faster progress for all.
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Therefore, it is imperative to direct research resources on ways to possibly curb unruly driving and
ensure disciplined drivers in order to ensure future development is not futile. Moreover, while there
is no intention to downplay the importance of the proposed decongestion measures which basically
aimed at increasing the base capacity, it should be noted that the proposed improvements will do
little if traffic management is not streamlined.
In addition, of importance in the recommendations is traffic efficiency education and regulation for
public transport related persons, such as drivers, conductors and users as one of the most important
measures to prepare convenient transport system in Nairobi central business district.
3. A feature of signalized intersections which does not appear to be used currently as a traffic control
strategy is variation of signal times for different times of the day. This could be used to restrict entry
to the center during times of day when the CBD is likely to be congested and to increase the capacity
of routes exiting the city center in order to control vehicle accumulations. With some monitoring of
traffic conditions in real time, the signals could be controlled dynamically in response to actual
vehicle accumulations in the city center.
4. Policies that reduce the peak travel demand by shifting trips to public transport or spreading the
demand across more time can reduce traffic congestion in the evening as it was found to be more
severe than in the morning. Spreading peak demand could be accomplished by staggering work
hours (through incentives to employers) or implementing a variable pricing strategy for parking or
transit use (incentives for employees). The provision of more attractive public transport options can
reduce vehicle demand overall, thereby reducing congestion and benefiting all road users.
39
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REFERENCES
1. C. A. OFlaherty (1974), Highways Volume : Highways And Traffic, second edition , Edward Arnold
2. R. J. Salter (1989), Highway Traffic Analysis And Design, second edition, Macmillan
3. Kenneth B. Woods, Donald S. Berry, William H. Goetz (1960), Highway Engineering Handbook,
McGraw Hill Book Co.
4. U.S department of transportation, FHWA (2005), Report On Traffic Congestion And Reliability:
a. http://ops.fhwa.dot/gov/congestion_report_04/chapter3.htm
b. http://www.fhwa.dot/gov/congestion/index.htm
Last accessed September 2009
5. Katahira & Engineers International (2006), The Study on Master Plan for Urban Transport in the
Nairobi Metropolitan Area in the Republic of Kenya
6. Eric J. Gonzales, Celeste Chavis, Yuwei Li, and Carlos F. Daganzo (July, 2009), Multimodal
Transport Modeling for Nairobi, Kenya: Insights and Recommendations with an Evidence-Based
Model
7. Mungai Kihanya, World Of Figures, Lifestyle Magazine, Sunday Nation, 21st Aug. 2009
8. UNEP/FIA Foundation, Africa on the Move, http://www.unep.org/urban_environment, last accessed
September, 2009
9. The Nairobi Metropolitan Region (NMR) Traffic
www.nairobimetro.go.ke/index.php, accessed November, 2009
Decongestion
10. Joint OECD/ECMT Transport Research Centre, Managing

www.cemt.org/JTRC/index.htm, last accessed November 2009
Urban
Program,
Traffic
2009
Congestion
11. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) (2005), Traffic Congestion and Reliability;
http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/congestin_repor_04/chapter2.html, last accessed November 2009
12. Wikipedia, Traffic congestion, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/traffic_congestion, last accessed
November, 2009
13. W. Pattara-atikom, P. Pongpaibool, and S. Thajchayapong, Estimating Road Traffic Congestion
Using Vehicle Velocity, internet PDF, last accessed, November 2009.
14. Todd Litman, Measuring Transportation (November 2008): Traffic, Mobility and Accessibility,
internet PDF, last accessed November 2009
15. Regional Transportation Plan, Evaluating Traffic Congestion, internet PDF, www.metro-region.org,
last accessed November 2009
40
ECE 2505
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16. Alexander Skabardonis, Pravin P. Varaiya, Karl F. Petty (January 2003): Measuring Recurrent and
Non-Recurrent Traffic Congestion, internet PDF.
17. Centre For International Economics, business costs of traffic congestion, (August 2006),
www.TheCIE.com.au, last accessed November 2009
18. United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), www.unep.org/urban _environment, last
accessed September, 2009
19. Partha Chakroborty n Animesh Das (2003), Principles of transportation Engineering, Prentice-Hall,
India.
20. Transport Research Board (TRB), (1994), Highway Capacity Manual (HCM)
41
ECE 2505
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Appendix A
Travel Time data and Travel Speed Results
TRAVEL TIME DATA
Date: 01.09.2009
TRIP 1: Retail Market - Haile Selassie - Uhuru Highway - Kenyatta Avenue - Moi Avenue - Retail Market
Time
Cumulative Distance
(mim:sec)
Time
(m)
start (1448hrs)
end (1514hrs)
Running speed
Journey speed
Retail market
Toilet no.8
Haile Selassie/Moi Avenue R.A
L.T. Tumbo
Parliament road
Haile Selassie/Uhuru Highway R.A
Uhuru Highway/Kenyatta Avenue R.A
Koinange street
Wabera street
Kimathi street
Kenyatta Avenue/Moi Avenue junction
Mama Ngina street
City hall way
Harambee Avenue
Moi Avenue/Haile Selassie Avenue R.A
Toilet no.8
Retail market
00:00
00:53
01:07
00:47
00:20
01:18
06:31
01:38
00:51
00:46
01:53
01:07
02:46
00:36
01:18
00:18
01:11
02:49
00:00
00:53
02:00
02:47
03:07
04:25
10:56
12:34
13:25
14:11
16:04
17:11
19:57
20:33
21:51
22:09
23:20
26:09
0
180
370
360
350
200
800
270
135
130
150
100
225
90
300
200
370
180
Cumulative
Distance
0
180
550
910
1260
1460
2260
2530
2665
2795
2945
3045
3270
3360
3660
3860
4230
4410
Space Mean
Speed
(km/h)
0.00
12.23
19.88
27.57
63.00
9.23
7.37
9.92
9.53
10.17
4.78
5.37
4.88
9.00
13.85
40.00
18.76
3.83
15.85
10.12
42
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TRAVEL TIME DATA

Date: 28.08.2009
TRIP 2: Uhuru Highway/Haile Selassie Round About - Haile Selassie - Moi Avenue - Kenyatta Avenue - State House Road
Time
Cumulative
Distance (m) Cumulative
(mim:sec) Time
Distance
start (1020hrs)
end (1046hrs)
Running speed
Journey speed
Uhuru Highway/Haile Selassie R.A

Parliament road
L.T. Tumbo
Haile Selassie/Moi R.A
Harambee Avenue
City Hall way
Mama Ngina street
Moi Avenue/Kenyatta Avenue junction
Kimathi street
Wabera street
Koinange street
Kenyatta Avenue/Uhuru Highway
State house road
00:00
00:16
00:23
06:21
00:38
01:52
00:14
01:28
00:33
00:26
00:26
07:11
05:05
01:37
00:00
00:16
00:39
07:00
07:38
09:30
09:44
11:12
11:45
12:11
12:37
19:48
24:53
26:30
0
200
350
360
200
300
90
225
100
150
130
135
270
340
0
200
550
910
1110
1410
1500
1725
1825
1975
2105
2240
2510
2850
Space Mean
Speed
(km/h)
0.00
45.00
54.78
3.40
18.95
9.64
23.14
9.20
10.91
20.77
18.00
1.13
3.19
12.62
17.75
6.45
43
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TRAVEL TIME DATA

Date: 28.08.2009
TRIP 3: State House Road - Kenyatta Avenue - Moi Avenue - Haile Selassie Avenue - Uhuru/Haile Selassie Round About
Time
Cumulative
Distance (m) Cumulative
(mim:sec) Time
Distance
start (1048hrs)
end (1112hrs)
Running speed
Journey speed
State house road

Kenyatta/Uhuru highway R.A
Koinange street
Wabera street
Kimathi street
Kenyatta/Moi Avenue junction
Mama Ngina street
City Hall way
Harambee Avenue
Moi Avenue/Haile Selassie R.A
L. T Tumbo
Parliament road
Uhuru Highway/Haile Selasie
R.A
00:00
13:25
00:46
00:56
00:59
00:50
00:44
00:38
00:32
00:41
00:51
00:57
00:27
02:47
00:00
13:25
14:11
15:07
16:06
16:56
17:40
18:18
18:50
19:31
20:22
21:19
21:46
24:33
0
340
270
135
130
150
100
225
90
300
200
360
350
200
0
340
610
745
875
1025
1125
1350
1440
1740
1940
2300
2650
2850
Space Mean
Speed
(km/h)
0.00
1.52
21.13
8.68
7.93
10.80
8.18
21.32
10.13
26.34
14.12
22.74
46.67
4.31
15.68
6.97
44
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TRAVEL TIME DATA

Date: 01.09.2009
TRIP 4: Uhuru Highway/Kenyatta Ave Round About - Kenyatta Ave - Moi Ave - Retail Market
Time
Cumulative
Distance (m)
(mim:sec) Time
Cumulative
Distance
start (1538hrs)
end (1555hrs)
Running speed
Journey speed
Uhuru Highway/Kenyatta Avenue

R.A
Koinange street
Wabera street
Kimathi street
Moi/Kenyatta Avenue junction
Mama Ngina street
City Hall way
Harambee Avenue
Toilet no.8
Retail Market
00:00
00:00
02:00
00:15
00:36
00:28
01:01
06:19
00:37
01:26
01:04
01:23
01:56
02:00
02:15
02:51
03:19
04:20
10:39
11:16
12:42
13:46
15:09
17:05
270
135
130
150
100
225
90
300
200
370
180
270
405
535
685
785
1010
1100
1400
1600
1970
2150
Space Mean
Speed
(km/h)
0.00
8.10
32.40
13.00
19.29
5.90
2.14
8.76
12.56
11.25
16.05
5.59
12.27
7.55
45
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TRAVEL TIME DATA

Date: 01.09.2009
TRIP 5: Retail Market - Moi Ave - Kenyatta Ave - Uhuru highway/Kenyatta Ave Round About
Time
Cumulative
Distance (m)
(mim:sec) Time
start (1557hrs)
end (1618hrs)
Running speed
Journey speed
Retail Market
Toilet no.8
Harambee Avenue
City Hall way
Mama Ngina street
Moi/Kenyatta Avenue junction
Kimathi street
Wabera street
Koinange street
Uhuru Highway/Kenyatta Avenue
R.A
00:00
00:54
01:04
00:58
01:18
00:33
01:00
00:24
00:31
03:08
05:18
05:06
00:00
00:54
01:58
02:56
04:14
04:47
05:47
06:11
06:42
09:50
15:08
20:14
0
180
370
200
300
90
225
100
150
130
135
270
Cumulative
Distance
0
180
550
750
1050
1140
1365
1465
1615
1745
1880
2150
Space Mean
Speed
(km/h)
0.00
12.00
20.81
12.41
13.85
9.82
13.50
15.00
17.42
2.49
1.53
3.18
11.09
6.38
46
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Data on Lane widths

major arterials
Uhuru Highway
Haile Selassie
Moi Ave
Kenyatta Ave
University Way
Koinange Street
Harambee Ave
City Hall Way
Kimathi Street
Widest Lanes
Narrow Lanes
Lane widths
total width
average of 50
about 50m including a service road
varying from 30 to 60 - service road, without
60m, except after the junction at Kimathi street - 30m
30m, but its expanded at some points
averages 25
ranges between 30 - 35
ranges between 25 - 40
ranges 20 - 30
Access lanes
County Lane
Haile Selassie
Lane
Maragua Lane
Parliament Lane
Wabera Lane
Elwak Lane
Jainsala Lane
7m
6.5m
7.4m
6.5m
8.5m
2.5m
3.4m
47
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Appendix B:
Traffic Data
11 HOURS VEHICLE TRAFFIC CLASSIFIED TURNING MOVEMENT COUNTS
Section: Haile Selassie Avenue
Station: Railway Club
Day
Cars/Vans
&
Time
Date
Outbound Inbound
Matatu
Buses & Coaches
LGV
HGV
Weighted Totals (pcu)
Outbound
Inbound
Outbound
Inbound
Outbound
Inbound
Outbound
Inbound
Outbound
47
73
59
36
302.75
Inbound
Total
PHF
7:00
Monday 15.01.07
7:15
85
160.25
463
7:30
88
85
87
68
45
15
352.75
241.5
594.25
7:45
115
185
87
71
50
18
400.5
362.25
762.75
8:00
140
230
95
74
56
18
446.25
407.25
853.5
428
547
342
272
187
55
1502.25
1171.25
2673.5
8:15
153
192
75
108
38
379.25
394.25
773.5
8:30
120
177
98
86
40
22
391.5
385.25
776.75
8:45
135
146
87
100
37
18
379.75
382
761.75
9:00
125
147
96
93
47
26
410.5
377.5
788
533
662
356
387
162
68
1561
1539
3100
9:15
102
157
80
93
47
27
359.5
387.25
746.75
9:30
128
148
88
94
35
21
388.75
370.25
759
9:45
160
135
67
90
17
323.75
311.75
635.5
10:00
124
169
63
105
19
12
296.5
395
691.5
514
609
298
382
118
65
12
1368.5
1464.25
2832.75
75
201
63
120
12
215.25
435.25
650.5
10:30
65
181
59
89
12
191
368
559
10:45
162
261
93
102
348
452.5
800.5
11:00
149
241
82
92
313
415.25
728.25
451
884
297
403
30
21
1067.25
1671
2738.25
11:15
121
279
73
86
260.25
449.25
709.5
11:30
117
261
72
71
261
409.75
670.75
11:45
112
233
85
63
10
279
373.75
652.75
10:15
0.78
0.98
0.93
0.86
48
ECE 2505
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12:00
102
241
78
78
10
259.25
413.75
673
452
1014
308
298
14
11
25
19
1059.5
1646.5
2706
12:15
127
253
87
81
298.5
416
714.5
12:30
119
307
93
64
292
449.25
741.25
12:45
110
243
86
79
277.25
399.25
676.5
13:00
112
207
93
71
290.5
349.5
640
468
1010
359
295
14
10
15
16
1158.25
1614
2772.25
13:15
93
196
68
74
223.5
355.25
578.75
13:30
90
211
62
69
221.75
345.25
567
13:45
75
181
52
74
11
180.25
350.75
531
14:00
95
179
75
82
236.5
363.5
600
353
767
257
299
12
13
12
28
862
1414.75
2276.75
14:15
87
181
68
96
226.75
366.25
593
14:30
90
206
62
75
215.25
351.5
566.75
14:45
133
184
88
52
293.25
285.5
578.75
15:00
170
192
78
80
324.25
346.25
670.5
480
763
296
303
12
12
10
1059.5
1349.5
2409
15:15
110
258
60
172
227.75
570.5
798.25
15:30
160
213
102
63
373.5
347.75
721.25
15:45
123
132
95
65
315.5
263.75
579.25
16:00
135
174
77
53
285.25
279.75
565
528
777
334
353
19
14
13
1202
1461.75
2663.75
16:15
110
278
80
99
269.75
481
750.75
16:30
110
190
90
79
294.25
354.75
649
16:45
127
254
120
80
349.5
405.75
755.25
17:00
120
467
322
1044
130
420
117
375
10
25
3
12
1
5
2
12
0
6
2
14
373.75
1287.25
542.25
1783.75
916
3071
17:15
135
482
130
92
11
394
668.5
1062.5
17:30
150
456
155
79
10
451.5
612
1063.5
17:45
172
302
145
74
12
461
450.75
911.75
18:00
190
215
195
58
10
561.5
338.75
900.25
647
1455
625
303
43
18
12
1868
2070
3938
5321
9532
3892
3670
636
294
56
111
74
130
13995.5
17185.75
31181.25
Day Total
0.95
0.93
0.95
0.90
0.83
0.84
0.93
0.90
49
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11 HOURS VEHICLE TRAFFIC CLASSIFIED TURNING MOVEMENT COUNTS

Station: Railway bridge; Section: Uhuru highway - City Centre
Day
Cars/Vans
Matatu
&
Time
Date
Outbound Inbound Outbound Inbound
Buses & Coaches
LGV
HGV
Weighted Totals (pcu)
Outbound
Inbound
Outbound
Inbound
Outbound
Inbound
Outbound
Inbound
Total
PHF
7:00
7:15
259
582
83
110
13
90
12
13
475
7:30
308
520
82
77
14
65
23
17
539.5
846
1385.5
7:45
526
588
82
80
18
66
15
19
768
911.75
1679.75
Tuesday 16.01.07
8:00
1022.75
1497.75
632
602
142
90
38
79
15
11
1007
975.75
1982.75
1725
2292
389
357
83
300
65
60
2789.5
3756.25
6545.75
8:15
678
578
161
123
37
95
11
18
1105.5
1044.5
2150
8:30
658
585
162
106
38
83
10
28
1119.75
990.5
2110.25
8:45
427
566
104
127
35
112
17
752
1077
1829
9:00
548
542
133
130
29
120
20
15
905.75
1094.5
2000.25
2311
2271
560
486
139
410
24
48
78
3883
4206.5
8089.5
9:15
521
552
117
140
27
110
30
13
839
1109.5
1948.5
9:30
503
502
88
120
21
115
35
739.25
1043.25
1782.5
9:45
486
521
76
98
19
87
18
11
704.25
932.5
1636.75
10:00
441
478
82
92
29
94
14
706.75
885.25
1592
1951
2053
363
450
96
406
27
92
47
2989.25
3970.5
6959.75
10:15
392
461
68
102
13
83
12
573.25
862
1435.25
10:30
375
448
65
112
18
88
15
18
593.25
882.75
1476
10:45
409
250
98
245
12
10
31
12
683.25
731.75
1415
11:00
393
245
106
232
17
26
17
668.75
729
1397.75
1569
1404
337
691
35
178
33
54
84
29
2518.5
3205.5
5724
11:15
415
242
113
240
21
13
11
20
681.75
743.25
1425
11:30
435
275
106
221
18
14
21
18
720.75
736.25
1457
11:45
453
293
104
242
10
19
26
21
729
818
1547
12:00
461
300
121
253
17
15
23
14
762.25
810
1572.25
1764
1110
444
956
19
19
66
61
81
73
2893.75
3107.5
6001.25
0.83
0.94
0.89
0.97
0.95
50
ECE 2505
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12:15
455
350
129
250
21
18
33
18
810.25
874.5
1684.75
12:30
511
352
136
277
14
17
28
20
851
923
1774
12:45
527
340
144
276
30
20
35
20
927.75
913
1840.75
13:00
556
335
137
254
22
19
38
18
935.25
860.25
1795.5
2049
1377
546
1057
17
17
87
74
134
76
3524.25
3570.75
7095
13:15
544
320
141
242
14
10
27
13
887.5
806.75
1694.25
13:30
531
332
134
198
17
14
24
16
865.25
750
1615.25
13:45
468
335
121
185
12
12
30
17
789.75
733
1522.75
14:00
371
332
106
201
14
21
18
628
758.25
1386.25
1914
1319
502
826
14
18
50
50
102
64
3170.5
3048
6218.5
14:15
273
320
95
192
11
15
18
20
510
734.75
1244.75
14:30
297
301
87
175
14
26
18
535.75
686.75
1222.5
14:45
445
302
167
180
15
20
780.5
703.25
1483.75
15:00
501
310
181
176
16
18
21
884.75
715.75
1600.5
1516
1233
530
723
18
20
24
60
70
79
2711
2840.5
5551.5
15:15
600
342
105
182
20
16
13
852.75
731.25
1584
15:30
485
348
150
192
16
23
10
827
744
1571
15:45
815
344
121
200
20
29
12
1116.5
767
1883.5
16:00
764
350
135
213
21
19
1066.25
778.5
1844.75
2664
1384
511
787
16
18
20
77
87
43
3862.5
3020.75
6883.25
16:15
936
352
152
211
23
18
1270.25
781.75
2052
16:30
1230
349
113
238
22
23
10
1519.75
840.5
2360.25
16:45
415
362
136
242
20
19
722.75
852.75
1575.5
17:00
434
372
108
245
20
13
11
673.75
863.5
1537.25
3015
1435
509
936
18
23
28
85
73
37
4186.5
3338.5
7525
17:15
1321
368
123
239
21
21
1612.75
852
2464.75
17:30
1386
366
96
240
23
17
1622
846.5
2468.5
17:45
789
382
71
251
22
19
983
880.25
1863.25
18:00
810
391
80
211
22
15
1007.5
808.75
1816.25
Day Total
4306
1507
370
941
19
22
21
88
72
25
5225.25
3387.5
8612.75
24784
17385
5061
8210
474
1431
389
754
888
429
37754
37452.25
75206.25
0.96
0.92
0.87
0.91
0.80
0.87
0.90
51
ECE 2505
E25-0133/04
Pedestrian Counts
Uhuru highway/ City hall way junction
Hourly summary - Pedestrian Counts
Time
Outbound Inbound
Totals
7:00 - 8:00
709
676
1385
8:00 - 9:00
385
452
837
9:00 - 10:00
329
477
806
10:00 - 11:00
256
280
536
11:00 - 12:00
523
497
1020
12:00 - 13:00
677
755
1432
13:00 - 14:00
703
692
1395
14:00 - 15:00
721
535
1256
15:00 - 16:00
606
445
1051
16:00 - 17:00
586
496
1082
17:00 - 18:00
572
455
1027
Totals
6067
5760
11827
Uhuru highway/ University way junction

Hourly summary - Pedestrian Counts
Time
Outbound Inbound
Totals
7:00 - 8:00
482
606
1088
8:00 - 9:00
482
606
1088
9:00 - 10:00
563
411
974
10:00 - 11:00
351
499
850
11:00 - 12:00
425
797
1222
12:00 - 13:00
489
827
1316
13:00 - 14:00
427
631
1058
14:00 - 15:00
517
692
1209
15:00 - 16:00
437
529
966
16:00 - 17:00
612
511
1123
17:00 - 18:00
717
441
1158
Totals
5160
6204
11364
Parking and Congestion Data

Traffic Congestion
Parking Supply and Demand in the CBD

OnOffBuilding
Street
Street
14,864
3941
3834
7089
= D/C
140%
95%
50%
12700
5520
3460
3540
13000
= D/C
100%
95%
80%
13250
3940
3640
5670
Total
Capacity
Demand - 2005
Demand - 2010
Possible usage
unit: pcu/day
Direction
North
South
West
Road
Uhuru Highway (N)
Uhuru Highway (S)
Nyerere Road
Kenyatta Avenue (W)
Haile Selassie Avenue
Average VCR
Exist.
Lane
6
6
2
4
2
Traffic(2004) VCR
70932
0.95
69458
0.93
7001
0.35
55832
1.12
12218
0.61
0.69
52
ECE 2505
E25-0133/04
Appendix C: Photographs
Plate 1: Conflict between motorists and pedestrians on a Nairobi street
Plate 2: Poor driving by motorists hence reducing the road capacity
53
ECE 2505
E25-0133/04
Plate 3: Inappropriate parking by the big car shown
Plate 4: Conflict at a non-signalized junction due to poor driving practices
54
ECE 2505
E25-0133/04
Plate 5: Conflict between pedestrians and motorists
Plate 6: A typical off-peak traffic congestion in the CBD
55
ECE 2505
E25-0133/04
Plate 7: Evening traffic congestion on Moi Avenue
Plate 8: This traffic congestion will result in a spillback in the CBD
56
ECE 2505

Wanyiri S K - Traffic Congestion in Nairobi CBD

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Wanyiri S K - Traffic Congestion in Nairobi CBD

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JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

SUPERVISOR: MR. M.O. WINJA

1.1 PROBLEM BACKGROUND AND STUDY JUSTIFICATION

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:

To measure the level of traffic congestion in the CBD

To estimate the total economic loss as a result of traffic congestion

To recommend economically viable ways of mitigating the problem

1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

1.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

2.2 CAUSES OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION

ii) Traffic Demand

2.3 FACTORS INFLUENCING TRAFFIC CONGESTION

2.4 MEASURING TRAFFIC CONGESTION

more than 60 mph

more than 35 mph

less than 30 mph

less than 13 mph

Source: Highway Capacity Manual (2000)

2.5 COSTING CONGESTION

2.6 TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN NAIROBI

2.6.2 Public transport

3.1 DATA COLLECTION

3.2 DATA ANALYSIS

evaluation of the travel speeds

3.2.1 Evaluation of the travel speeds

Light goods vehicle

Heavy goods vehicle

Source: City Council of Nairobi

Overall width for 4-lane carriageway with 14.60

Single 2-lane (normal)

Dual 2-lane (normal)

Single 2-lane, in industrial districts

Single 2-lane, in principle business districts

Source: OFlaherty, 1974

3.2.8 Network structure

The Beta or Gamma index

V > e+1 at least

3.2.9 Costing Congestion

Figure 1: Map of the Nairobi CBD, Source: Google Maps

City hall way

Mama Ngina street

Moi ave/Haile Selassie ave

Kenyatta ave/Moi ave

Muindi Mbingu street

Haile Selassie/Moi ave R.A

Figure 2: Section speeds for Trip 1

Figure 3: Section speeds for Trip 2

Figure 4: Section speeds for Trip 3

Figure 5: Section speeds for Trip 4

Figure 6: Section speeds for Trip 5

4.1.2 Traffic Count

Total inbound and outbound traffic count

Inbound and Outbound traffic count for

Figure 8: Inbound and Outbound traffic count for Uhuru Highway

Haile Selassie Avenue

Figure 10: Peak hour variation for Haile Selassie Avenue

Peak Hour Factor

Figure 11: Peak hour variation for Uhuru Highway

Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/

Figure 12: Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/ City-Hall way junction

Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/

Figure 13: Pedestrian count on Uhuru Highway/ University way junction

Source: Katahira & Engineers International, 2006